Potential Overdrive
by Volkorona
Summary: During the forbidden scroll incident, something inside Naruto snaps... Leading to the whole story shifting and branching off into places it had never been before. Watch as Naruto takes this shift and uses it to become stronger than ever before, going from the dead last, to the greatest ninja to ever walk the face of the elemental nations... Naruto x Harem FemKyuubi
1. Chapter 1

Hello readers!

I've got another story, I really need to stop having ideas...

But I couldn't let this one go! This is the first fanfiction idea that I ever had. So I had to put it out there.

For once, this is not a neglect story or a crossover!

This is Naruto cannon up to the forbidden scroll incident, where it starts. All characters are in their shippuden outfits, except the ones wearing chunin and jounin gear.

A harem as always.

 _ **Important:**_ I re-uploaded this chapter because I noticed a few errors, nothing has changed except where I didn't put in where Naruto's headband was in the weapon shop.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other series that may appear.

* * *

Chapter 1:

Failure!? I think not!

In a forest clearing, there were three people, a 16 year old blonde with an orange and black tracksuit and a pair of goggles on his head. Two men dressed alike, one with brown hair in a pineapple style with a scar across his nose, and one with silver hair covered by a bandanna.

Naruto Uzumaki watched as Iruka-sensei passed out from the pain of having a giant shruriken embedded into his back. This day had gone to hell in a hand basket! First, he'd failed the graduation exam for the third time, then he'd found out that Mizuki-sensei was using him, then he found out that the Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi inside him, and lastly in this parade of total shit, Mizuki had just mortally wounded Iruka-sensei!

"Sensei, Sensei!" Naruto cried as he tried to wake Iruka up, but to no avail.

Mizuki chuckled darkly, "Aw, the demon is sad... Well don't worry, you'll be reunited with Iruka... IN HELL!" He said as he threw the second shruriken.

Naruto shook and threw his hand out, grabbing the metal weapon by the ring in it's center, "You hurt my sensei..." Naruto felt sharp points of pain in his back, "I'm gonna make sore that you suffer!" As he said this, golden chains erupted from Naruto's back, racing toward Mizuki and tearing the ground apart along the way. Mizuki didn't even notice as a streak of red made it's way through Naruto's hair, or one of his eyes turning violet.

Mizuki was so shocked that he didn't think to do something until the chains had wrapped around him, but when he tried a kawarimi, he found that he couldn't access his chakra!

"Let me show you something I learned from the scroll..." Naruto said as he placed his hands into a cross shape, " **Kage Bushin no Jutsu!** " Suddenly, clones of the blonde appeared surrounding the clearing. Mizuki trembled as he realized his position.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and charged, the clones following suit...

* * *

 _Hokage's office._

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato, watched the scene unfold in his crystal ball. He was happy that Naruto learned the Kage Bushin, but the Kongo Fusa as well? That would complicate things...

Hiruzen made a hand signal and watched as three ANBU dropped down and knelt before his desk, "Tora, retrieve the scroll and return it to the vault, Usagi, round up some ninja to take Iruka home and arrest Mizuki, Neko... bring Naruto here."

The three ninja nodded and disappeared to complete their assigned tasks. A few minutes later, the purple haired ANBU with a cat mask returned leading Naruto inside, "Thank you Neko. Now leave us."

Neko nodded and left the room, leaving Naruto and Hiruzen, Naruto looked down to the ground and said, "I'm in deep shit aren't I?"

Hiruzen sighed and lit his pipe, "Not as much as you'd think, I know Mizuki tricked you my boy, but there are other things we need to discuss." At Naruto's confused look, he elaborated, "The Kyuubi, those chains, and your parents..."

At hearing the last topic, Naruto's head shot up, "My parents, you mean you knew them? You lied to me?"

"I know you're angry with me Naruto-kun, and you have every right to be. But I promised them that I wouldn't tell you about them until you made chunin. However, things have changed." Naruto calmed down and nodded, "Your parents were Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage."

Naruto's jaw went slack, before he started to think about the implications, "My Tou-san sealed the Kyuubi into me..."

Hiruzen saw where this was going, "It's not like he wanted to Naruto. Only an Uzumaki could contain the Kyuubi, you and Kushina-chan were the only ones left, and she was far to weak to contain it. Your chakra coils were still underdeveloped, you could adjust to it."

Naruto nodded and thought about that, knowing that, he could understand his father's reasoning... But that didn't mean he liked it, "What about the chains?"

"They are known as the Kongo Fusa. I suppose you could call it a bloodline. That's where your new red highlight and purple eye came from. It only appears every few generations among members of the Uzumaki clan. It can suppress chakra and they are nearly unbreakable."

Naruto looked back up at Hiruzen, "I have a clan?"

Hiruzen blew out some smoke, "I'm sorry Naruto, but they were destroyed when your mother was still a child... You're the last that I know of..."

The blonde's head dropped again, "So what am I gonna do now? I failed the academy three times, I can never go back... I'm never going to be a shinobi now..."

"... Naruto, what would you say if I told you that you could still be a shinobi?"

Naruto's eyes went wide, "What!?"

"If you still wish to be a shinobi, then meet me at training ground 13 tomorrow morning. Now you're dismissed my boy, go get some sleep... you've had a long day." Hiruzen said, giving Naruto the most serious expression the blonde had ever seen on his surrogate grandfather. Naruto nodded and left.

Hiruzen then called Tora and Neko back in, "Neko, get a message to Jiraiya, tell him to get here as soon as he can. Tora, get me the acting head of the Kurama clan."

* * *

Naruto looked up at the night sky as he walked back to his apartment, today had been... tiring, _"My parents... Jiji didn't tell me a whole lot about them, I would really like to hear more about them. Though I wonder what he wants..."_

The blonde climbed the stairs to his small home, walking into it and looking around. It wasn't much but it was home...

He walked to his room, dressed himself in his pajama bottoms, lied down on his futon, and closed his eyes to sleep...

* * *

 _The next day._

Naruto walked past the trees into training ground 13 with a small bit of hesitation, when he got a good look at the clearing, he saw a river, a patch of pure stone, a grassy area, and a corner with sheer cliffs rising up above the trees.

"Welcome my boy." Naruto focused on Hiruzen standing in the center of the field.

"Hey Jiji, what's-"

"Sensei."

"What?" Naruto said with some confusion.

Hiruzen gained a hard look on his face, "For the next seven days I will be your sensei. Should you manage to impress me with your growth, then I will make you a shinobi. Fail and you stay a civilian forever. Is that understood?"

Naruto realized that these would be some of the hardest days of his life, but he stood tall, "Understood Sensei."

Hiruzen smiled in a grandfatherly way, "Excellent. Now dodge."

"What?"

"DODGE!"

* * *

 _One week later._

Naruto panted as he dropped to the ground, he was exhausted... His jacket was torn to shreds, his pants were completely torn, his sandals were falling apart, and his shirt was in tatters. Over the past week, Hiruzen had shown no mercy, Naruto had taken art in a training schedule that would make Might Gai flinch. But it was worth it. Hiruzen had made him eat healthy, fixing his malnutrition and making him grow taller, to a tall 6"2'. Thank you Uzumaki healing factor! He had quite a few new jutsu to add to his repertoire, Hiruzen had taught him boujutsu for some reason, he was stronger and faster than ever before, and he was most certainly not the dead last. Though Hiruzen had made Naruto train his mind as well, by making Naruto send clones to the library and read up on everything he should have known from the academy. He had also used the clone method to learn some chakra exercises.

Hiruzen had also told Naruto some things about his parents, how they met, what they were like, and Naruto was even more bummed that he wasn't able to meet them.

"Is this all you have my boy?" Hiruzen said with a hard voice.

Naruto struggled and rose to his knees, "Not... on your life... old man..."

Hiruzen smirked at Naruto's progress, he had gone from the dead last, to an impressive shinobi. Now there was one thing left to do, Hiruzen quickly tossed a metal object at Naruto, the blonde mustering the last of his energy and catching it, seeing a Konoha headband before he passed out.

Hiruzen chuckled at his student's actions, it was rare to see Naruto this worn out. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and shunshined back to his office, placing Naruto on the couch to the side. He then sat down at his desk, waiting for his other student to show up.

Soon, he heard the telltale sound of the window sliding open, "You called sensei?" Jiraiya asked as he hopped into the room. He looked around and noticed the passed out blonde, he flinched as he noticed the state of him, "Damn, did you give him your 'sink or swim week'?" Hiruzen's smile was all the answer needed, "Damn... he really looks like a miniature Minato." The sage said, noticing how Naruto's hair had grown, looking almost like Minato's.

"Yes he does. Now I'm sure you're wondering why I've called you here." At Jiraiya's nod, Hiruzen continued, "Do you remember that idea you had when you wanted to become a sensei? The one about a team of supposed failures?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Yeah. I thought that as a former failure myself I could turn some lost causes into strong shinobi, why?"

"How would you like to give it a try?"

"What?"Jiraiya said with wide eyes, "Are you serious? I have my spy network to handle you know."

Hiruzen nodded, "You'll need someone to handle it when you're gone. Plus it was one of your biggest wishes."

The toad sage sighed and thought a minute, "Alright, who did you have in mind?"

"Well, he's not exactly a failure but..." Hiruzen said gesturing to Naruto.

"Really? You want me to teach him?"

At this, everyone's favorite blonde stirred and sat up, "What hit me..."

Hiruzen smiled, "That would be me Naruto."

Naruto took a minute to regain his bearings, then he noticed Jiraiya, "Who's he?"

Jiraiya face-faulted, "Who am I! I am the gallant Jiraiya! How have you not heard of me!?"

"Ah, the bonding of teacher and student..." Hiruzen said with a laugh.

Naruto stopped, "He's gonna be my sensei?"

Jiraiya grumbled about no respect from kids while Hiruzen nodded.

"There's someone else, she should be arriving-" The Sandaime was cut off by a knock at the door, "There she is, come in."

The door opened to reveal a brown haired girl Naruto's age wearing a pink yukata, and a yellow hairclip in her hair, Hiruzen smiled at her and looked to the man escorting her, "Thank you for bringing her here, you may go now."

The ninja seemed all to eager to get away, making the girl seem depressed. Hiruzen smiled at her and asked, "How are you feeling Yakumo-chan?

The girl looked up and spoke in a sad voice, "Normal... But I still wish I could get over my... problem..."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "I brought you here for a reason. How would you like to become a Kunoichi Yakumo-chan?"

Just like Naruto, Yakumo's eyes went wide, "What? But Kurenai said that I could never be one!"

"I disagree. I believe that with the proper training, you can become an excellent Kunoichi. Now allow me to introduce your teammate and Sensei, this is Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen said, gesturing to the now stretching blonde.

Naruto gave her a foxy grin and said, "Yo, it's nice to meet you Yakumo-chan."

She blushed and looked around for her sensei, not seeing him, the two students looked around while Hiruzen facepalmed, knowing what was coming.

Suddenly, the room went dark and a spotlight appeared above Jiraiya, who moved in a Kabuki dance, "I am the envy of men and the dream of women, My voice can make women quiver and calm a crying child, I am... The gallant... JIRAIYA!" He finished with a double thumbs up.

Naruto and Yakumo merely stared, until they both pointed and said, "Ero-sensei."

Jiraiya face-faulted again as Hiruzen tried to contain his laughter. After finding his footing again, Jiraiya slammed his head against the wall, mumbling about 'the return of the disrespectful brats'.

After Hiruzen got his laughter under control, he said, "Why don't you three go out for a bit of team bonding? You also need to pick up some ninja gear. Speaking of which, Yakumo-chan?" Said girl caught the headband tossed to her and stared at it with a sense of disbelief, like it was all a dream.

After hearing this, Naruto looked down at his last tracksuit, torn to shreds. Yakumo also picked at her yukata, agreeing with Hiruzen.

With that, the three left the office, heading for a small store in the ninja section, when they arrived, Jiraiya said, "Welcome to Higurashi Weapons, the best ninja outfitter this side of anywhere." When they entered, they saw a girl with her hair in two buns manning the counter, looking bored.

Jiraiya looked at his two students and said, "Go look for some gear you like, I've gotta talk to the owner for a minute."

As they walked off into the racks, Jiraiya took out a small iron key and headed up to the counter, then he said, "Excuse me, may I speak to Ken?"

The girl nodded with a smile and said, "Sure. Hey dad! You have a customer!"

A large bald man with a mustache walked out of the back and walked up to the counter, when he saw Jiraiya and the key, he turned to his daughter, "Tenten, why don't you go help those two, they seem like they need it."

Tenten looked at them, seeing Naruto picking far too much orange, and Yakumo looking lost, "Alright."

When she was gone, Ken turned back to Jiraiya, "That key... You're here for _that_?"

Jiraiya nodded and watched as Ken walked over to a painting of a forge, moving it to the side to find a safe. He put in a combination and opened it up, taking out a long wooden box locked with a heavy iron padlock. It was six feet long and one foot wide.

Ken set it down on the counter and rubbed some dust off, "I never thought I'd see the day when this was released..."

Jiraiya nodded as he placed the key into the lock and turned, watching as the padlock dropped to the ground with a loud thud. He then opened the box to reveal the items within.

The first was a sword, six feet long, with a gentle curve. The sheath was made of shining reddish brown lacquered wood, with a silver cap on the end and a thin line of gold running through the middle. The hilt was a foot and a half long wrapped in wine red cloth, with another silver cap on the end. The tsuba was made of both the gold and silver metals, in the style of a highly detailed swirling whirlpool, a leather strap to place it on someone's back, and lastly, there was a bright orange ribbon hanging from the cap on the hilt, half as long as the sword itself.

There were six other weapons identical to each other, six three-pronged kunai each with a sealing formula painted onto the handle.

Lastly, was a scroll, about the size of an average forearm, with pictures of waves and tornadoes along the sides.

Jiraiya stared at them for a minute before closing the box and looking back to Ken, "Thank you."

He smiled and shook his head, "The only thanks I need is to see those weapons being used again."

"We're all done!" The two heard Tenten say. The two men both turned to see their new gear, Yakumo was wearing a purple battle kimono with black bike shorts, and her headband on her waist. (Her actual shinobi outfit, but the headband is on her waist instead of forehead, look her up and you should find a picture of her in it.)

It was Naruto that made them do a double take however. He was wearing a long sleeved mesh shirt, with a pale green sleeveless undershirt, a blue sleeveless hoodie lined with white fur stopping at the bottom of his ribs, black cargo pants tucked into dark brown boots that came up to just below his knees, white fingerless gloves reaching halfway up his forearms, and his headband was tied around his neck, but certainly not least, was an orange belt with rings to hold scrolls or kunai around his waist.

Naruto pouted a bit, "I think it needs more orange..."

Tenten, and surprisingly Yakumo, both shook their heads in exasperation. Then Tenten noticed the box sitting on the counter, she knew that box, but she had only seen the contents once, when her father took the weapons out to do some upkeep on them. However, he had seen her and told her to never speak about the contents to anyone, she had been confused, but recognized that her father was being serious, so she complied. Seeing the box out and Jiraiya ready to carry it away got her wheels turning, someone was going to be using them!

Yakumo noticed the box as well and asked, "What's with the box sensei?"

Jiraiya tossed the box at Naruto, who held it easily, if a bit unsteadily, then ha replied as he paid Ken for the clothes, "It's for the brat. Now let's go, we've got some things to do yet."

So the sage and his two new students left the store, leaving a nostalgic Ken and a stunned Tenten. They kept going until they got to training ground 13, where Jiraiya sat down and told them to as well. After they did, he decided to get down to brass tacks, "Alright, first off there will be no secrets among my team. Naruto, Yakumo, tell each other about your... inner afflictions."

They both flinched and stayed silent for a minute, Naruto, after getting tired of the silence went first, "The Kyuubi didn't die when fighting the Yondaime... It was sealed away inside me..." He then lifted up his shirt and made his seal appear.

Yakumo was, understandably, scared at first, before she realized that he was just like her, "I have an ido inside me... it's an alternate personality created by my psyche."

Naruto smiled at her, "Well, looks like we're more alike than we thought huh?"

Yakumo smiled for the first time in a long time, "It seems that way..."

Jiraiya interjected here, "While I hate to break up a budding romance..." He inwardly chuckled at their blushes, "There are a few more things to take care of. Yakumo, I'm going to remove your seal, while I'm doing that, Naruto's gonna tell you about his family."

Yakumo nodded as Naruto stiffened, he didn't think that Jiraiya knew about that! But never the less, as Jiraiya drew a release seal over the seal on the back of Yakumo's neck, Naruto told her about his parents.

After he was done, Jiraiya decided to drop another bomb, "Also I'm your godfather, and Tsunade Senju is your godmother."

"WHAT!? Then where the fuck have you guys been my whole life!?" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet.

Jiraiya noticed how angry he was and sighed, "I had to keep track of my spy network. Plus it's not like I left you all alone, your monthly stipend comes from me, and there's also a storage seal full of shadow clones on your left arm, made to let a clone out when your heart rate goes above a certain level, speaking of which, kai!"

A puff of smoke appeared on Naruto's arm and he suddenly remembered something, whenever his... beatings came around and the ANBU weren't there, about a minute in a cloud of smoke would appear, he would black out, and appear at the hospital...

Naruto sat down and nodded, "What about my godmother?"

The toad sage sighed as he finished up the release seal, "She left the village before you were born... She lost her lover and little brother in the third great shinobi war. She had nobody left, and she couldn't handle the pain, so she left. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure that she knows about you."

Naruto took that all in and tried to arrange his thoughts while Jiraiya spoke to Yakumo, "You ready?"

She nodded and braced herself, " **Fuin** **Kai!"** Yakumo gasped as she felt her chakra truly start to flow again, she had limited access before, but now she had true flow again... It felt amazing!

"Now get a feel for your chakra again. It'll help your control." Yakumo nodded at her sensei's advice and took a few minutes to familiarize herself with her chakra.

After both his students had gathered their thoughts, Jiraiya spoke, "Now on to more... emotional business. When I made jounin, I wanted to make a team of failures and turn them into Kage level ninja, since I was a failure myself. After all these years I've realized something... There are no failures or prodigies, there are only people. How good a ninja they are depends on their heart, hell everyone said I would amount to nothing and look at me now, I'm not bragging when I say that I'm one of the strongest ninja in the world. Everyone thinks that you two are lost causes, we're going to show them that they're wrong. That's why I chose to be team 13, when we would normally be team 12."

At their confused look, Jiraiya remembered that students wouldn't know about it, "Team 13 is always the throwaway group. The ones who will never make it as ninja as they are now. Not to say that they could never be ninja, but they never would if they didn't make some major changes. I chose team 13 because I want people to see that lost causes can become as good as any so-called prodigy. Now... what do you two say?"

Naruto and Yakumo looked at each other before nodding, "We accept." They both said with conviction.

Jiraiya smiled at his two pupils, "Good, now there's still a few weeks until the regular team selection. In that week, we're going to be training our asses off, but first I have a few things to give you." At this, he pulled out a small black scroll, "Yakumo, this is a scroll of genjutsu from one of, if not the best, genjutsu users in the village. He's working on a long term mission right now, but he agreed to help you out with this scroll." As Yakumo took the scroll, Jiraiya tilted his head at the box at Naruto's feet, "Open it up kid..."

Naruto nodded and flipped it open, when he saw the contents, he felt like his world shifted... The Yondaime's Hiraishin Kunai... _His father's_ weapons... His attention was also taken by the sword, he didn't know why, but he felt a pull toward it. He unsheathed it and stared at the long blade, gleaming like liquid silver...

Jiraiya watched as Naruto handled the weapons, "Even if you're not ready for the jutsu, your Tou-san would have wanted you to have those kunai... But the sword... Her name is Benihime. That sword will only be drawn by the true heir to the Uzumaki clan, it used to be Kushina-chan's sword, but now it's yours."

Naruto sheathed the sword and picked up the scroll, "That scroll contains everything your parents knew, take a look." Naruto did just that, and unrolled it to see storage seals, labeled: Fuinjutsu, Kenjutsu, Boujutsu, Futon, Raiton, and Suiton.

Naruto looked at them and said, "I assume there are more scrolls in these?"

Jiraiya nodded, "Exactly. We'll get to them when we start training. I assume sensei found out your chakra nature."

"Futon with lesser Raiton and Suiton natures. But why is there a section on boujutsu?"

"The sword. It's so long that the wielders started to use it like a staff, it just stuck and became a part of the sword's style. It's used as a staff until you need an edge, then you switch to kenjutsu to unleash it's real power." Jiraiya then took out his fuinjutsu kit, "Now let me put a sealing scroll on you so you can keep them with you... What are you doing?"

What Naruto was doing, was putting the six Hiraishin kunai onto the straps in his belt, three on each side, as well as strapping Benihime on his back, with only a small bit of difficulty, leaving the whole hilt sticking up from his right shoulder.

Naruto gave Jiraiya a serious look, "I'm not going to hide who I am. If I need to I'll keep them in a scroll, but not when I don't."

Jiraiya stared into Naruto's eyes and saw the same fire he always saw in Minato and Kushina, "Fine. But while we're in the village, before we leave, keep your hood up. You're not strong enough to protect yourself from your parent's enemies yet."

Naruto nodded while Yakumo thought, "What do you mean leave?"

Naruto wondered this too and looked at their sensei, who told them, "I need to keep track of my spy network, and teach one of you two how to run it for when I'm gone. So the day after team assignments, we're leaving the village to travel and train. No D-ranks for us, when I say we're ready, Sensei will start sending us C-ranks to do."

"Will we ever be back here?" Yakumo asked.

Jiraiya gave them a smile, "Of course we will. We'll just spend most of our time on the road."

When they smiled back, Jiraiya cracked his knuckles, "Now to get to training. Dodge."

Yakumo was shocked as Naruto immediately grabbed her by the back of her kimono and ran.

* * *

 _Two weeks later._

Yakumo was standing in the middle of training ground 13. She was looking all around to find her opponent, larger than life he was, he could be stealthy... They had been at this for about an hour...

 **"Futon: Rekudan!"** Yakumo turned to the barrage of wind bullets and dodged them, well not so much dodge as, flow around them, like a willow tree in the wind.

Once the attack stopped, Yakumo pulled out her scroll, popping a paintbrush out and pulling a length of paper from the scroll, complete with seals for automatically clearing it. She popped open a small compartment that stored ink, with backup seals filled with more. (It's like Sai's scroll, but a metal cylinder with a set amount of paper that can clear. The rest of the empty space is filled with ink and a compartment for the brush.)

She dipped her brush and waited, she needed to see her victim for the genjutsu to work, the real problem was that Naruto knew that. She tried thinking of a solution, but as soon as she did, she found a three-pronged kunai at her neck.

"Game over Yakumo-chan..." Naruto said with a smile, until he saw Yakumo smirk, then dissolve into crows, "Aw damn."

Yakumo then appeared behind him, holding a picture of Naruto bound in rope, "Damn right! **Genjutsu: Kosoku Ropu!** " Naruto suddenly felt his body go stiff, as if an invisible rope was holding him.

As soon as Yakumo thought she'd won, another Naruto dropped down from a tree and made a hand sign, **"Kongo Fusa!"** The golden chains flew from Naruto's back and wrapped around her, nullifying her jutsu and making the bound Naruto disappear in a puff of smoke.

Yakumo gave an exasperated sigh, "Stupid clones..."

Naruto laughed and released her, then Jiraiya appeared and said, "Nice spar you two, you're getting better." It was true, they had learned quite a lot in their time training under him, Naruto had a good handle on his sword, the two had learned more jutsu. To people's surprise, Yakumo was a fire nature. The girl had also opened up to the two of them, mostly Naruto, and the blonde himself had gotten rid of his mask of idiocy, as well as learning more about his parents fro Jiraiya, including the masked asshole who tore the Kyuubi out of his mother and controlled it, apparently Minato left a note explaining it, "But we're going to leave the village tomorrow, and before we do, we need to take care of something." At their looks, he prepared for their reactions, "Confronting your... inner demons."

They both flinched but nodded, they knew they'd have to do it eventually... So Jiraiya made a giant sealing circle for them to sit in, they sat down and he prepared to activate the seal if anything went wrong. The two gennin took a deep breath, letting themselves be drawn down into their minds...

* * *

 _Naruto's mind._

Naruto appeared in a traditional temple, even bigger than the Hokage tower,Naruto walked to the back and saw an enormous cage. As he walked closer, a claw shot out and tried to skewer him, he stood still and watched as it stopped the smallest margin away from his heart.

 **"Hmph no fun at all. Just like your mother..."** The Kyuubi said as it appeared from the darkness of the cage, **"At least the accommodations here are better, no more being stuck to a rock with pillars through my tails... What do you want kit?"**

"I wanted to talk to you about your chakra." Naruto said, staring into the bijuu's eye.

 **"Of course, well I can guarantee kit that you won't be taking it."**

"Wasn't planning on it."

 **"Don't backtalk me you... What?"** Kyuubi said, getting confused.

"We're both stuck with this situation whether we like it or not, so we might as well make the best of it." Naruto said with a smile.

Kyuubi blinked a few times before speaking, **"This is new... I like you kid, so I'll make a deal with you. I'll let you use my chakra, but I get to choose how much you get and when you get it. In return... You have to do something for me..."**

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "What do I have to do?"

Kyuubi smirked and glowed a bit, before shrinking down. When the glowing and shrinking stopped, Kyuubi was... No longer a fox... well, not totally. Kyuubi was now an incredibly hot girl. She was about his age, wearing a modified kimono and glasses, with a large bell on her rather generous chest. Complete with nine fluffy tails behind her... (The shrine priestess from No Game No Life, but with red hair the color of Kurama's fur and nine smaller tails, plus no whiskers.)

She smirked at him and said, "You just have to let me out of here when you figure out how... Call me Miko, and I promise to make it worth your while..." She finished with a purr.

Naruto blushed and said, "Sure... I'll let you out when I can. But you don't have to do anything for me. It wasn't your fault hat you attacked, so I won't hold it against you." With that, he disappeared from the mindscape.

Miko blinked and gripped the bars so hard they whined in protest, "Did. I. Just. Get. Rejected... I don't know whether to be flattered that he didn't want to take advantage of me, or to rip his heart out..."

* * *

 _Yakumo's mindscape._

Yakumo looked around the copy of the Kurama compound in her mind. Half was normal, while the other half was decrepit and destroyed. She walked over to the border between the two halves and stood waiting. It wasn't long before her Ido showed up, a demonic version of herself cackling with sadistic joy.

 **"Well well, look who's here... Are you ready to stop fighting me Yakumo?"** It said while staring into Yakumo's eye.

"I'm actually here to tell you that I'm not going to take your abuse anymore. I'm not going to let you harass me any longer." Yakumo said shakily.

Ido just laughed madly and mocked Yakumo, **"Aw that was so cute.~ You think you can stop me! I'm not going to stop Yakumo, I am going to take over your mind and lock you away! I'll take such pleasure in killing anyone who opposes me, but not before I have some fun with that stud of a teammate you have..."**

As Yakumo listened, one thing Ido said stuck with her. She pulled out all the confidence she had gained over the past few weeks and stood up to her Ido, "Exactly. _My_ mind." Ido stopped, "This is my mind. I am in control here." As she spoke, her confidence grew, and the compound started to put itself back together, she walked forward as Ido backed up, "I don't need you, you insane bitch, you need me! Without you, I could be perfectly fine, but without me, you don't exist!" By this time, Ido was against a wall while the entire compound was fixed, "Now listen up, I'm going to be using my bloodline, and you're gonna sit here and like it. If you behave, I might let you have a little freedom, but until then, you're going to pipe down and sit here LIKE A GOOD LITTLE MALFUNCTION!"

Ido shook and slumped against the ground, then nodded, feeling respect for Yakumo for the first time. Said girl nodded and left, with a new level of confidence in herself.

* * *

 _Training ground 13._

Jiraiya watched as Naruto woke up first, he must have had a civil conversation with Kyuubi, then they waited for Yakumo to wake up, her chakra spiked near the end, but other than that she was fine. When they were both out, they told about their encounters, and while everyone was proud of Yakumo, it was Naruto that shocked them the most.

"Kyuubi's a girl!?" Yakumo asked with wide eyes.

Jiraiya grabbed Naruto's shoulders and shoo him, "An incredibly hot girl!? But more importantly... YOU TURNED DOWN HER OFFER FOR SEX!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU!?"

Yakumo smacked Jiraiya with a paper fan and said, "Calm it down Ero-sensei..."

After a few minutes of yelling and crying, Jiraiya pulled himself together and said, "Alright, we'll cut training off early today..."

Naruto blinked, "Really? It's only noon." They usually got done so late that nobody was up anymore...

"Yeah, you two have earned it, so go on, have fun! Plus... I need to catch up on my research..." His student's eyes twitched as he jumped away laughing perversely.

Naruto turned to Yakumo and asked, "Wanna go get some lunch? My treat."

She nodded and the two set off, Naruto pulling up his hood before they left the training ground, shadowing most of his face except his mouth.

As the two walked through the village, they couldn't help but notice people staring at Naruto, or more specifically, the weapons he was wearing. Most were shocked seeing Benihime, while they nearly had a heart attack when they saw the Hiraishin kunai. They walked to Ichiraku, and Yakumo put up a small genjutsu so Naruto could take off his hood, which he did.

"Yo old man! Got some ramen for your best customer?" Naruto called, soon Teuchi walked in from the back.

When he saw Naruto, he said, "Well Naruto! Where have you been these past few weeks?" He then noticed the sword and kunai on Naruto, "So you know huh?"

Naruto stared at him, "You knew?"

The ramen chef nodded, "Your parents came here all the time, it was easy for me to spot. So how've you been, and who's this lovely lady?"

Naruto smiled, "Pretty good, and this is my teammate Yakumo-chan. By the way, where's Ayame-neechan?"

"She's out getting groceries, lemme head back and get started on your ramen,"

So the two gennin sat and chatted for a few minuted before someone walked in, "Hey Tou-san! I'm back with the groceries!"

Naruto looked to the girl a few years his senior, "Hey nee-chan."

She turned to him, "Hey Naru-kun!" she then continued walking back, before she was back out faster than a jounin, "Naruto!? What happened!?"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head, "I've been training..."

"I guess so..." Ayame said while looking him over.

For a completely unrelated reason, Yakumo wanted to take Naruto somewhere else.

After they ate and Naruto caught up with Teuchi and Ayame, the two went out for a walk around town. As they walked, they turned a corner and someone ran into Naruto, he just got pushed an inch, but she was knocked to the ground. Naruto looked down and recognized her, Hinata Hyuga.

Naruto leaned down and offered Hinata a hand, "I'm sorry about that, here, let me help you up Hyuga-san."

She hesitantly took his hand and said "N-no it w-was my f-fault. I w-was in a h-hurry..."

"But I could have dodged, sorry again." Naruto said.

Hinata got a good look at the two new arrivals, they looked to be her age, but she had never seen them before, "My n-name i-is H-hinata... U-um Wh-who are y-y-you two? I d-don't think w-we've ever m-m-met."

Yakumo smiled and held out her hand, which Hinata took, "I'm Yakumo Kurama, nice to meet you."

When Hinata looked at Naruto, he chuckled nervously, "Sorry Hinata-san, but you already know me... So why were you running anyway?"

Hinata, forgetting her confusion, said, "Oh no! I'm a-almost l-l-late to meet my t-t-team! It was n-nice m-meeting y-you, but I n-need to r-run!" With that, the shy Hyuga sped off.

Naruto and Yakumo shrugged before walking back to training ground 13 for some last minute training.

* * *

 _A few hours later._

Hinata dropped to the ground in exhaustion, she had made it in time and her team had managed to pass their test. She sat herself up and caught her breath, annoyed beyond belief and more than aware at Kiba staring at her heaving chest.

Suddenly their sensei, Kurenai Yuhi, appeared and spoke to them, "Excellent work you three, we'll start missions tomorrow. For now, just head on home and get some rest."

With that, Kiba and Shino left, though Hinata took a few more minutes to catch her breath. She then let her mind drift back to the two she had met, more specifically the boy, _"What did he mean when he said that I already knew him... I don't think I have..."_

Kurenai noticed her expression, she knew Hinata's emotions after taking care of her when she was a girl, "Something on your mind Hinata-chan?"

Said girl snapped out of her thoughts, "N-nothing s-sensei... Just th-thinking about a c-couple p-people I m-met today..."

"What about them?"

Hinata took a moment to gather her thoughts, she was comfortable talking to Kurenai, so her stutter went away, "It's really the boy I'm confused by... I don't think I've ever met him, but he said we had. He also had some weird weapons with him... One was a six foot long sword with a long orange ribbon, and he also had six three-pronged kunai on his belt..."

Kurenai held in her stunned expression. It sounded like this kid had Hiraishin kunai, and her sensei's old sword, "You said there were more?"

Hinata nodded, "There was a girl with long brown hair. Her name was Yakumo Kurama, she wore a purple battle kimono and had a headband around her waist."

Kurenai was internally screaming, _"Yakumo!? What is she doing with a headband!? She can't be a shinobi, I haven't trained her in years!"_

She regained her composure and said, "Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Now why don't you head home? You look about to drop."

Hinata nodded and left the training ground, her mind still on the mysterious boy, before it drifted to Naruto...

Kurenai waited until she was gone before letting her face harden, she then shunshined straight to the Hokage's office.

* * *

 _Hokage Tower._

Hiruzen was doing the evil paperwork when a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of his office, when Kurenai appeared, he was a bit surprised. The team pass/fail report wasn't for another hour, "Hello Kurenai-chan, what can I do for you?"

"Why is Yakumo a shinobi?"

Hiruzen sighed, _"Naruto..."_ he then took out his pipe, "I made Yakumo a shinobi because I wanted to see her potential realized. Forgive me for saying, but this is my final decision and you have no more say in the matter."

"No say!? You are the one who told me to seal away her power!"

"But I did not order you to tell her that she could never be a shinobi."

Kurenai flinched as she recognized this, Hiruzen continued with, "Yakumo is now a shinobi. No ifs ands or buts. I suspect that you also know about her teammate."

Kurenai nodded, "Only some special objects he carries."

Hiruzen sighed, "I knew it would be trouble letting him carry those around openly so soon... If there's nothing else, then I'll see you at the meeting."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." Kurenai said as she disappeared, she had a lot of thinking to do...

* * *

 _Meanwhile, just outside Konoha._

Naruto and Yakumo looked over their shoulders at the looming gate of Konoha... This was the beginning and the end of so many things. They then looked out on the stretch of road past Jiraiya, they had never been outside the village gates before, but now they were going to be traveling all over the nations... It was a bit daunting.

Jiraiya looked back at his two students and noticed their faces, "Don't worry, it may seem too much now, but you'll get used to it. Hold your heads up! This is a whole new adventure!"

They both smiled a bit and nodded. As they walked, they were both filled with excitement, this was a new adventure...

However, Jiraiya had to ruin everything, "By the way I've only got two tents. As sensei I get one of them to myself. Do with that information what you will."

Naruto and Yakumo were silent for a minute before, "EEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHH!?"

* * *

 _ **Chapter end!**_

I hope you guys like my new story.

Yes Naruto and Yakumo will get a third teammate. Also they won't be going back to Konoha until the chunin exams.

Review please!


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! I've gotten some reviews about hoe people really like the premise of the story, I hope you continue to like what I do with it.

Okay, so the second chapter of this story! I'm sorry it took so long... Once I get my other stories up to the same amount of chapters, I'll have a more regular update schedule. After this, I'll update Prophecy collapse, then Black/White, then Gemstone.

So a few questions people had in reviews...

The rest of the gennin are the same age as Naruto and Yakumo.

Hinata didn't recognize Naruto because she isn't the type to use her Byakugan to invade someone's privacy, also he was taller and had a completely different wardrobe, not to mention the hidden face, plus he was calmer, so his voice pitch was a bit different.

Kurenai does not know about Naruto being her sensei's son. She knew Kushina was pregnant, but not what happened to the baby, she just assumed that that it died and Naruto was another random Uzumaki.

Kakashi does know about Naruto and who he really is.

With that... On to the next chapter!

* * *

Chapter 2:

The real fun is just beginning...

Yakumo sighed as she soaked in the hot springs of Yugakure. She and her team had arrived in the ninja village turned resort town a few hours ago, and the first thing she did after they got settled in their hotel was to head to the famous hot springs. She sunk deeper into the water as she felt the aches and pains of training seep away...

It had been a month and a half since they'd started traveling. She and Naruto had learned a lot from their teacher, pervert he may be, he was a powerful ninja. She had learned a good few genjutsu from her scroll, and she had started training in her fire nature. Her Ido was also less of a problem, since she told it off, her Ido had been much more compliant. Naruto had also been working himself into the ground to learn all he could from his parent's scrolls. He had a good handle on using his sword now, as both a staff and sword, Jiraiya made sure that Naruto was at the same level in both fields so as to effectively use the sword. He also learned more jutsu in his three natures, as well as taking to Fuinjutsu like a fish to water, he wasn't going to be pulling space-time fuinjutsu any time soon, but he was able to write an explosive tag blindfolded. Not only that, Jiraiya had let him sign the toad contract, he had offered her the same thing, but Yakumo didn't think that the toads were right for her...

She smirked as she heard some perverted giggling followed by a wail of despair. Thank you genjutsu...

Naruto, who was on the other side of the wall, was nearly immersed in water. His body was still repairing itself from all the years of bad health, combined with his strenuous training, and he could almost not move after his training sessions. He also smirked when he heard his Sensei's crying, it was always fun to ruin his peeping. In the month and a half, he hadn't changed much, other than his hair. While he liked it short, he had been told that he looked good with it long, so Yakumo cut his hair as she liked it, and Naruto quite enjoyed it. His hair was settled down and not gravity defying anymore, but still spiky, the large spikes were mostly sticking out from the back of his head. Lastly, two long, thin bangs hung in front of his ears, a red and blonde tail of hair hanging in front of his shoulders.

He soaked for a while longer before getting up and wrapping his towel around his waist, heading back to the room. When he arrived, he heard someone, most likely Yakumo, in the shower, so he sat on his futon waiting for his turn.

He heard the water stop and someone walk around, before he heard Yakumo's voice, "Oh dammit..."

Naruto walked up to the door, "Yakumo? You okay?"

Yakumo jumped, not knowing he was there, "I left my pajamas on my futon, could you bring them to me?"

Naruto looked over and saw them, a pair of panties and a rather short pink nightgown. He walked over and picked them up, having grown used to it after sharing a tent or room with Yakumo. He walked over to the door and slid it open.

Seeing Yakumo naked... They stared at each other for a moment.

...

...

Naruto dropped the pajamas and slammed the door shut, "Sorry! I didn't see anything!"

"Yes you did! You saw everything!" She screamed from the other side of the door, quickly putting her nightgown on.

Naruto shook his head, "I'm sorry! It was an accident!"

Yakumo took a few deep breaths, "I know! Just... let's both calm down okay?"

Naruto nodded and walked back to his futon, Yakumo came out a few minutes after and sat down, letting Naruto have his turn in the shower. After he got done, he dressed in his usual combo of no top and pajama pants. He turned the light off and they both lie down on their futons and went to sleep.

They were silent for a good few minutes.

"Stop picturing me naked."

"I can't."

* * *

 _The next day._

Despite an awkward morning, Naruto and Yakumo had managed to get back to normal. They headed out looking for something to do, it was Sunday, so they had the day off from training. As they went on some errands, Naruto went into a shop to but some more shruriken and kunai, while Yakumo stood outside to get some fresh air. Even after nearly two months out of the house, she still loved being outside...

"Well, well... A little Konoha ninja all on her own." Yakumo turned to see two Iwa ninja... the same age as herself, so she assumed that they were gennin like her. They both had average looks and forgettable faces...

One of them, the apparent leader walked up to her, "What are you doing out here all alone little lady? Don't tell me you got separated from your team..."

The other chuckled a bit, "Well if you'd like we can take you back to our village so we can help get you back."

Yakumo merely said, "I don't know who's more stupid. You for thinking that I wouldn't know the way back to my own village, or you for thinking that I would fall for that. But I'll settle on both of you for thinking that I'm an idiot."

The leader got angry and said, "You little..." Then he tried to punch her, emphasis, tried.

He found himself punching a forearm. Belonging to a red-streaked blonde, who seemed pissed off.

Naruto gave them both a hard glare, "What exactly is the deal here. Because from what I see... There are two idiots picking on a girl just because she's from a different village."

Yakumo nudged him, "I could have handled it."

Naruto pushed the fist off of his arm and turned back to her, "I know. Still, you don't need to get your hands dirty."

"What the hell are you idiots doing!?" Naruto and Yakumo looked surprised as the two ninja stiffened and froze. It was then that the speaker appeared, it was a girl with short black hair and pink eyes, wearing a normal Iwa uniform with one sleeve cut off. She walked up to the two gennin and said, "I leave you two morons alone for five minutes..."

She then noticed the other two people and their headbands, "Oh..." When the Konoha gennin thought she was going to join her comrades, she proved them wrong, "You fucking JACKASSES!" She punched her two teammates off into the distance before turning back to them with a smile on her face, "Sorry about them... I'm Kurotsuchi by the way."

Yakumo broke out of her funk and said, "Yakumo..."

Naruto soon followed suit, "Naruto. So those two are your teammates?"

She nodded with a sigh, "Unfortunately... Sorry about them, they're some of the Iwa residents who never got over the whole Yondaime Hokage thing..."

Naruto got understandably uncomfortable, "Well, it was nice meeting you Kurotsuchi-san. But we need to get going..."

She waved them off, "Sure, go right ahead." She then watched as they both left, Yakumo throwing her a friendly wave. Of course, she knew why Naruto wanted to leave quickly, she was much more observant than her teammates. She noticed the hair and blue eyes, given where he was from, and the kunai hanging on his belt, she had no doubt that he was the Yondaime Hokage's kid. She didn't blame the man for what he did during the third great shinobi war, if she was in his position, she would have done the same thing, he was just defending his home.

As she turned to head back home, she thought, _"Naruto Namikaze... has a nice ring. I wonder if we'll ever be friends? He seemed like a nice guy."_

Naruto and Yakumo spent the next few days wandering around the village, seeing the sights before stopping to get a bite to eat at a small cafe. Once it started to get dark, they walked back to the inn to see Jiraiya waiting for them, "There you two are, we've got our first mission!"

Naruto gained a spark in his eye, "Seriously!? Let's get to it!"

Yakumo, while not showing it, was just as excited as her teammate.

Jiraiya chuckled a their attitude, "We're going to Nami no Kuni brats. Now pack up and meet me at the village exit." With that, he shunshined away.

Naruto and Yakumo got their stuff together and headed out to meet their sensei. When they arrived, they saw Jiraiya speaking with an older man in a straw hat, he turned to them and said, "There you two are. This is our client, Tazuna."

"These brats are going to be protecting me? I came here from Konoha to get these brats?" Tazuna said with a sake bottle in his hand.

The gennin's eyes twitched as they observed their client. They knew that they wouldn't be protecting princesses, but an old drunk? Really? After Jiraiya assured him of their skill, they headed out for Nami no Kuni. Along the way, Jiraiya and Tazuna told them about their destination, but Tazuna seemed to be hiding something big... which they all noticed. So in order to keep a low profile, they all put on their cloaks, which they bought a few towns back. Jiraiya used his usual older white one, Yakumo wore a black one with stitching and small strings hanging from the hem, sleeves, and hood, while Naruto's was leather and lined with gray fur.

A few days later, they had arrived in Nami, they followed Tazuna through the mist until they all slowed down. Jiraiya looked around from under his cloak until he heard a whooshing sound, "Down!"

Yakumo ducked while Naruto dragged Tazuna down, all four of them watched as a huge sword flew over their heads and embedded into the side of a tree. Naruto tossed off his cloak and took Benihime off his back, the strap automatically tightening until tight against the sheath, Yakumo took out her scroll and brush, waiting for an opening.

Suddenly a man appeared standing on the hilt of the sword, he was shirtless, wearing camo pants, ninja sandals, leg and arm warmers, and bandages wrapped around his mouth, "Well, looks like they aren't completely useless..."

Zabuza Momochi... Jiraiya was instantly trying to come up with a plan, he had no doubt that he could beat Zabuza, but if he did that. then his students wouldn't learn anything, this mission was supposed to be a way to get their feet wet... Not drop them into water they couldn't hope to swim in...

He decided on the best course of action, "Naruto, Yakumo. I want you two to fight him... I doubt you can beat him, but you need to know how strong your opponents could be. Don't worry, I'll step in if things get too bad."

Naruto nodded and held Benihime horizontally behind himself, while Yakumo took a deep breath and dipped her brush in her ink. Zabuza chuckled when he saw them step forward, "Don't tell me you actually think your little brats can beat me."

Jiraiya shook his head under his cloak, "To be honest, no I don't. But I do know that they need the experience, so I'll let them have a whack at it."

Zabuza stood silent for a moment before he started chuckling again, then it grew into full blown laughter, after he calmed down, he gave them all a dark look, "Tell me... Do these kids even know who they're up against?" He then turned to Naruto and Yakumo, "Do you two know why I'm called Kirigakure no Kijin?"

The confused look on their faces was all he needed, "When I was just a kid, not even old enough to be in the academy, I killed every, single, student in the graduating class... But you know what the best part was? It was the best moment of my life... Now hand over the old man and I might let you live..."

As he relished in the terrified looks on their faces, he suddenly felt his instincts flare to life, he ducked and watched a lacquered wooden sheath sail over his head, but then felt a blunt metal object slam into his back. Zabuza grabbed his sword and landed smoothly on the ground, looking up to find two of the same blonde, before they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. He turned around just in time to see the original above him bringing his sheathed sword down for an overhead strike.

Zabuza brought the Kubikiribocho up to block, stopping the blow easily. As he was about to send Naruto flying, he noticed Naruto's sword, "Well I'll be damned..." After that, he pushed Naruto off and knocked him back to Yakumo, "Do you even know what you're holding kid!?"

Naruto stood up and nodded, he expected enemies to recognize it, "Of course I do. Even though I've only had her for a few months, I feel like Benihime is a part of me. There is absolutely no way I wouldn't understand what she means."

As Naruto tightened his grip on Benihime, Zabuza saw the look in Naruto's eyes. This kid was going to be a great ninja someday, _"Ah well, time to kill 'em."_

With that, the veteran swordsman rushed the two gennin, Naruto slipped Benihime onto his back and started running through handsigns as fast as he could. Zabuza was about to slice Naruto in half before a wall of stone rose up to block his path, then it shot forward, pushing Zabuza back out onto the water. He stopped and jumped back, noticing that the water had risen up into walls to box him in, then the stone wall disappeared to reveal Naruto with his chest puffed out and his cheeks bulging. Yakumo, who was kneeling in front of him, lifted up her hand as Naruto released his jutsu, **"Futon: Daitoppa!"** Yakumo snapped her fingers, a small spark turning Naruto's blast of wind into a blazing inferno.

Zabuza's eyes widened as he watched the ball of fire and murder speed toward him, he quickly went through a chain of handsigns in a blur, **"Suiton: Suijinheki!"** A raging current appeared to meet Naruto's firestorm. Zabuza beat back the attack with minimal effort, now beginning to get annoyed at himself for underestimating these gennin.

Naruto and Yakumo watched the steam from the clash for any sign of Zabuza, but before they could react, he appeared behind them, poised to strike, "Not bad brats, but not good enough..." As he prepared to swing, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye, a kunai headed straight for his head, he jumped back and watched as Naruto and Yakumo readied themselves, _"Dammit! I should have known there'd be a third teammate..."_

Naruto created a few more clones and engaged Zabuza in a kenjutsu match, which the older ninja easily dominated. After Zabuza dealt with the clones, he noticed multiple huge spears of stone screaming straight toward him from all directions. He was about to dodge before he noticed something... Yakumo furiously drawing in her scroll, he then payed more attention to his chakra and surroundings, _"Wait... Those tricky little bastards!"_ Zabuza yelled in his mind as he channeled a big pulse of chakra from his body, **"Kai!"** The spears disappeared just as they were about to pierce him.

He looked around and his eyes landed on the two gennin, "Very clever..." He said in a dry voice, "The wall of rock, the water trap, the spears, and even the kunai... they were all part of a genjutsu." He hefted his sword and prepared to bisect them, "I'm impressed... Unfortunately it's overshadowed by my extreme annoyance..."

Just as he was about to swing the sword, Jiraiya appeared, without his cloak, and said, "This is where I step in."

Zabuza's eyes widened upon seeing one of the three Sannin appear in front of him, then he remembered the sensei, he had gotten so caught up in the battle with Naruto and Yakumo that he had completely forgotten about their sensei. As he was about to make a retreat, two senbon shot out of the woods and pierced his neck.

Naruto and Yakumo watched, surprised as Zabuza fell to the ground, and a masked ninja appeared near him, "Thank you for that. I've been tracking him for weeks."

Jiraiya stared at the ninja for a few seconds before nodding and turning away. The ninja grabbed Zabuza and shunshined away in a swirl of water, as Jiraiya walked, he turned back to his students and client, "Well? You guys coming?"

They all nodded and followed, until Jiraiya spoke, "So Tazuna-san, care to tell us what's really going on in Nami?"

Tazuna flinched and gained a fake smile, "W-what are you t-talking about? Nami is j-just fine..." At the disbelieving look he received from all three ninja, he relented and spilled what was really happening there. After hearing about Gato and what he was doing to the country, Naruto and Yakumo wouldn't let up in wanting to help them. Jiraiya sighed and agreed.

As they continued on, Jiraiya brought up something important, "We'll need to up our training when we get to Nami, we have to be prepared for when Zabuza makes his reappearance." At the three confused looks he received, he explained, "Zabuza isn't dead. That hunter-nin was a fake who used senbon to put Zabuza into a death-like state. He should recover from it in about a week."

Tazuna started sweating and shaking, while Naruto and Yakumo flinched, when he came back he would definitely be bringing help...

After a few more hours of walking, they arrived at Tazuna's house. They were introduced to Tazuna's daughter and grandson Inari, though Naruto thought that the kid could use an attitude adjustment. While Tsunami made dinner, Jiraiya explained their plans for the next week until Zabuza returned, "Alright, I'll send a few clones to watch Tazuna while he works on the bridge, while that's happening, you two will be getting some even harsher training, and I'm going to make sure you two have an ace up your sleeve."

Yakumo nodded, "What will we be learning?"

Jiraiya thought for a minute, "We'll be refining and mastering what you already know, at least as much as we can... Yakumo, you'll be learning a new jutsu, and Naruto, we're not fighting until you can do the rasengan with one hand."

Naruto nodded, he had figured out a trick to do it with a clone, but he still needed to work on doing it himself.

"You shouldn't even bother... You're just going to die..." Inari said as he left to go to his room, Tazuna watched him leave sadly, while Tsunami sighed and brought dinner to the table.

Tsunami then turned to the three ninja, "I'm sorry about Inari... He hasn't been the same since Kaiza was..." She then explained the incident with Kaiza when Gato first came to Nami. After they heard it, Naruto and Yakumo could understand why Inari was that way...

So they ate dinner then retired to bed, Naruto stayed up after lying down, then when Yakumo walked in wearing her pajamas and saw him, she noticed the distant look on his face, "Naruto, what's wrong?"

He jumped a bit and turned to her, "Oh, it's nothing. Just thinking about the mission..."

"Care to share?" Yakumo said as she got into her futon.

Naruto stayed silent a bit before answering, "I'm just worried... We've been training for so long, but Zabuza beat everything we sent at him so easily..."

"Well, he is an elite jounin. We may have been training hard for months, but he's been training just as hard for years. Even if we can't beat him, sensei can, so let's not worry about it right now, okay?"

"Yeah... Thanks Yakumo-chan." Naruto said with a smile.

Yakumo blushed a bit, "Yeah, no problem Naruto-kun..."

* * *

 _The next day - Forest clearing._

Jiraiya tossed a scroll to Yakumo and said, "Be careful with that Jutsu, it's very powerful. Using it too much can kill you, that's why it's a last resort." Yakumo nodded and sat down to read the scroll. He then turned to Naruto, who already had his hand out ready to create the iconic chakra ball, "Alright, let's see what you've got so far."

Naruto nodded and started channeling his chakra, he concentrated and watched as the spinning ball of chakra appeared in his hand, he allowed himself a small smile... Before the ball destabilized and exploded, sending him flying back with a spin into a tree. He rubbed his arm and stood up, "Dammit! Why can't I get this?!"

The toad sage shook his head, "You're trying too hard. The sphere destabilized because you keep prodding it with chakra too much. Once it's stable let it keep spinning on it's own, it will keep it's shape, you just need to keep a hold of it."

Naruto nodded and kept training.

A few days later, Naruto was walking through the woods clearing his head, he had just been thrown back by yet another failed Rasengan, plus blowing up on Inari... As he walked, he stopped to rest against a tree, rubbing his sore arm. As he rested, he sensed someone coming near him, he looked to see a pretty girl his age in a pink yukata.

She saw him and said, "Oh, hello. I'm sorry if I disturbed you."

Naruto shook his head, "It's alright, you didn't disturb me. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

She smiled, "Haku, just Haku. It's nice to meet you Naruto-san. Since you're a ninja I can only assume you were training out here."

"You guessed it, so what are you doing out here Haku-san?"

She knelt down and started picking up some plants, "I'm collecting some herbs for an injured friend."

Naruto nodded and knelt down as well, "Let me help you out." So they spent the next few minutes picking herbs.

When they were done, Haku gave Naruto a smile, "Thank you Naruto-san, that was very nice of you."

"You're welcome." He waved her thanks off, until he flinched and held his wrist.

Haku noticed this, "Is something wrong with your hand?"

Naruto shook his wrist out a bit, "It's nothing, just a training injury."

She stared for a second before setting down her basket and grabbing his wrist, she then poked around for a second before Naruto felt the pain start to fade away. As she worked, Haku looked up at Naruto, "Tell me Naruto-san, why do you fight?"

Naruto looked at her and thought for a minute, "I've never really thought about it... If you asked me that a few months ago, I would say it was because I wanted people to see me for who I truly am. But now... I have people who do see the real me, so I guess I fight to protect them..."

Haku smiled, "I believe that people become truly strong when they have something to protect."

"That sounds like an awesome thing to believe Haku-chan." Naruto said with a smile.

She smiled again and started walking away, "By the way Naruto-san... I'm a boy."

He stared for a minute before saying, "Bullshit. No guy is that beautiful. Besides, I have enhanced senses, I can tell you're a girl."

She blushed before chuckling a bit and walking off.

* * *

 _End of the week._

Naruto adjusted Benihime on his back as he and the rest of the team walked onto the bridge, the clone watching it had dispelled, telling them that Zabuza was there, and he brought friends... They had left more clones with Tsunami, Tazuna, and Inari at their house and headed out.

Jiraiya explained the plan on the way there, "Alright, Zabuza is there with an Ame-nin named Aoi Rokusho, I'll handle them. Yakumo, I want you to handle Gozu and Meizu, the demon brothers, don't pull any punches. Naruto, you're going to be taking on that hunter-nin." The two nodded as they reached the bridge.

As the three stood, five figures appeared out of the mist. Zabuza narrowed his eyes, "No back-up? You have some faith in those brats it seems."

Naruto slipped a Hiraishin kunai off his belt as Yakumo readied her scroll. The two groups had a small staredown, before Zabuza nodded to the hunter, who disappeared in a flash of speed. Naruto also seemed to disappear, before they reappeared fighting kunai to senbon.

Jiraiya disappeared as well, kicking Zabuza and Aoi further down the incomplete bridge, leaving the demon brothers trapped in one of Yakumo's genjutsu as she rushed in to finish them off, quickly drawing in her scroll, a plan to take them out quickly already in her mind.

She flashed through a series of handsigns as they finally broke out of the genjutsu, **"Katon: Hosenka!"** The demon brothers saw the volley of fireballs headed toward them and had the god sense to dodge. But they found that Yakumo aimed directly in between them, making it so they had to detach the chain to get away.

They then tried rushing her from opposite directions, however she flashed through a few quick handsigns and slammed her hands into the ground, making two pillars of fire to block their approach.

"It's just a genjutsu remember?" One said to the other, not feeling any heat from the fire. The other nodded, though he definitely felt the heat... One jumped through with no problem, though the other ran headlong into searing flames, his brother's eyes widened as he heard the screaming.

Yakumo then quickly channeled chakra into her scroll, trapping the uninjured one in a paralyzing genjutsu. She quickly took out a kunai and jammed it into the throat of the paralyzed one and then brought it around to take care of the other one... But she stopped... She saw the pain in his eyes, he couldn't even scream anymore, she shook as she brought the kunai down onto his throat as well... She then sat there for a few minutes... The first one was easy, quick, but she watched the other die... She knew she'd have to kill eventually, but doing it was much harder...

She sat there for a little while longer before she heard a heart-wrenching scream from someone, "ZABUZA-SAMA!"

* * *

 _With Naruto, after he and Haku clashed._

Naruto quickly pushed Haku, unbeknownst to him, off of himself as he saw her going for one-handed handsigns. The two kept clashing in short bursts of speed, they seemed completely even... during their clashes, they were both prepping jutsu with one handed signs. While Naruto was no expert, Jiraiya had made sure that both he and Yakumo could do them.

When they clashed the next time, Haku quickly stomped on the ground and created a thousand needles of water, "It's foolish to fight me in an area surrounded by water. **Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suisho!"**

As they rushed toward Naruto, the gennin stomped his own foot as golden chains shot out of his body and started spinning, knocking all of the needles away, then he tossed up his kunai, made the chains recede, and said, "The same goes for me, **Suiton: Mizurappa!"** Naruto placed a hand to his mouth and spat out a high pressure jet of water.

Haku analyzed the stream, _"It's coming slightly to the left... Meaning he wants me to dodge right. He's probably waiting to rush me while I'm dodging."_ With that thought in mind, Haku jumped to the left, narrowly dodging the blast of water.

But coming face to face with a smirking Naruto. He slammed a fist into her mask, shattering it, then he grabbed the nearly invisible wire attached to his left glove and pulled the Hiraishin kunai into his hand. He then knocked Haku onto the ground and placed the kunai to her throat.

As he took a look at her face, he stopped, "Haku..."

Despite their situation, Haku gave Naruto a small smile, "Hello Naruto-san, I hoped we could meet again under different circumstances... But I suppose that this is simply the life of a ninja."

Naruto nodded, "I suppose so..." He then widened his eyes and jumped back of of Haku, watching as a few more water needles slammed down near her.

She quickly got up and said, "Please give up Naruto-san. I don't want to hurt you..."

The blonde/redheaded gennin shook his head, "You know I can't do that Haku-chan."

Haku's eyes gained a sadness to them as she blurred through handsigns, "So be it. **Hyoton: Makyo Hyosho."** Naruto watched as he was surrounded by mirrors on all sides, he was even more surprised as Haku melted into the mirror, her image appearing in every single one.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun... But I have to do this..." Haku said as she held up a few senbon, Naruto was ready for an attack, but not ready for this kind of attack. Just as he registered Haku moving at all, he was pelted with dozens of senbon. He dropped to his knees as he felt his healing factor already starting to push them out of his body.

The still hurt like a bitch though...

A few minutes later, it was a race between Haku and Naruto. Could Haku kill Naruto before he found her? Or would Naruto catch her before she could? As Naruto felt the latest volley of senbon stick into him, he looked around and tried following Haku, he knew he wasn't fast enough to catch her himself... but he had something that could.

He just needed a sign, some way to know where she was... He calmed down and tried a new idea, he closed his eyes, stopped breathing, and waited... There! He heard the senbon whistling slightly as they shot through the air. He judged the path, and brought up a hand, firing a lightning fast chain.

Haku's eyes widened as she felt the chain wrap around her ankle. She felt herself being pulled out of the mirror, she turned as she hurtled toward Naruto, who threw his other hand forward, **"Rasengan!"** Naruto said as he slammed the ball of chakra into her stomach. Haku flew back through one of her mirrors, watching as they all shattered.

Naruto walked toward Haku, who only cringed at the wound on her stomach as she watched him walk. When he reached her, he simply said, "Why?"

She was silent for a second before speaking, "I'm sure you know about the bloodline purges." At his nod, she continued, "When I discovered my Hyoton, my mother tried to hide it, but my father saw... He killed my mother and tried to kill me, but I killed him first. I lived on the streets for a while before Zabuza-sama found me. He gave me a purpose, that's why I do this..."

Naruto nodded, "I can relate... I know what it's like to feel like you're worthless, and how happy it makes you to find someone who cares for you in the least..." He flashed back to the first time he met Hiruzen.

The two sat there in silence for a minute before Haku noticed something in the mist, Naruto turned, and both their eyes widened.

* * *

 _A minute ago, with Jiraiya, Aoi, and Zabuza._

Zabuza hefted his sword and grit his teeth, Jiraiya had been tossing them around like ragdolls for most of the fight, if you could call it that. Aoi gripped the inactive Raijin no Ken tighter and said, "Come on! It's two against one, this should be simple!"

Jiraiya gave him a dry look, "To be fair, it's really one on one, given that you aren't a threat at all."

Zabuza, despite the situation, chuckled at Aoi's steaming face, "Come on, we need to think up a plan..."

"I've got one." Aoi said, then he activated the Raijin no Ken, the blade going straight through Zabuza's chest.

Jiraiya's eyes widened as Haku screamed Zabuza's name. Then they all heard clapping from the mainland, they turned to see Gato standing in front of a huge group of thugs, Aoi shunshined to Gato and said, "Sorry Zabuza. But apparently, you're just too expensive."

Gato chuckled, "Better to pay the village and kill off the missing-nin. Boys, kill them all, but leave the girls, they'll be a prize for whoever kills Zabuza and the sannin." He said lecherously.

Everyone watched Zabuza struggle to his feet, "Gato... You... YOU WILL NOT TOUCH A HAIR ON HAKU'S HEAD! DO YOU HEAR ME YOU FUCKING DEAD MAN?!"

Gato laughed it off and said, "Get them boys!"

When none of the thugs moved, he took a closer look at the ninja...

 **-Play Persona Q OST Laser Beam- I do not own this.-**

Naruto was drawing Behinime from her sheath while forming a Rasengan in his left hand, a few golden chains hovering around his body. Yakumo was prepping some hand signs, a large picture already drawn on her scroll. Haku had created ice senbon and was stalking toward them with a glare that made ice seem warm. Zabuza, despite his fatal wound, was standing and glaring at them with the shroud of an angry demon above him. Jiraiya was cracking his knuckles and said, "You know what I hate? I hate tyrants like you... I hate scumbag thugs like those guys behind you... But above all, I hate those who sell out their comrades..."

On some unseen signal, the ninja all charged.

Once they reached the thugs, there was no battle, only a slaughter. Naruto wielded Benihime like a demon, his eyes burning red as he gripped it from where the tsuba met the hilt, he swung it around with one hand, slicing through thugs like butter, while any that got close enough got sliced up by chains or got a Rasengan. Yakumo cast her genjutsu, making them all think that they were inside their worst nightmare as she waded through, slicing them all up with kunai. Haku created a few mirrors and was raining down water needles onto the thugs, killing them or debilitating them. Jiraiya was giving them all a dose of taijutsu, each blow breaking bones and killing the target. Zabuza was slicing through his opponents like a man possessed, heading straight for the fleeing Aoi and Gato.

Naruto, Yakumo, and Haku somehow got together and launched a huge collaboration jutsu.

Naruto, **"Futon: Kamikaze Tokage!"**

Haku, **"Suiton: Suiryudan!"**

Yakumo, **"Katon: Goryuka!"**

Three dragons, made of wind, water, and fire formed together. Creating a dragon of all three elements, constantly flowing around each other and melding. Shrouded in steam, it tore toward the thugs, opening it's jaws and crashing into the enemy, exploding in a pillar of fire, water, and wind.

When Zabuza caught up to his targets, he wasted no time slicing Gato in half. He turned and took the sword through the stomach from Aoi, getting in close and staring the Ame-nin in the eye, "I already know I'm gonna die... But I'm taking you with me..." Aoi didn't even have time to scream as he was bisected by a single swing of Zabuza's sword.

After a few more minutes of slaughter, all the thugs were dead. Miko's chakra had left Naruto's system and he was coming to terms with what he had done, Yakumo as well. Haku watched them, she knew what they were going through, while Jiraiya went over to talk to them.

 **-Song end.-**

Haku then looked over to see Zabuza fall over. She rushed over, "Zabuza-sama!" Naruto and the others also came over to him.

Zabuza stopped Haku from trying to heal him, "Haku, stop... The sword clipped my heart. It's a miracle I've been able to survive this long..."

Tears streamed out of Haku's eyes, "Please no! What will I do without you?! Please don't leave me!"

Zabuza actually smiled beneath his bandages, "Haku... This is my final order... I want you to live... Be happy... You are like a daughter to me Haku, I want you to have a long and happy life. I wish I could say we'll meet again but... I don't think I can go to the same place as you when it's your time... I... I love you Musume..." With that, the former member of the seven swordsman closed his eyes and slipped away...

* * *

 _A few days later._

Naruto and Yakumo were standing next to Haku in front of a grave. It was a simple tombstone which read: _A demon he may have been, even demons have a heart. Here lies Zabuza Momochi, an amazing swordsman, and even if he didn't show it, a caring father. May he find peace in the next life..._

Naruto placed a hand on Haku's shoulder, minding the Kubikiribocho strapped to her back. Haku had adopted a new outfit to accommodate for her new life and new weapon. She was wearing denim shorts down to the knee with black sandals, an ice blue spandex tank top, a Konoha headband on her right arm, and lastly, white arm warmers. With her hair down like when she met Naruto.

Haku turned to Naruto and smiled, "I'm alright, it's just hard to say goodbye..."

Yakumo smiled at her, "Don't worry, we spend most of our time outside the village, so we can visit the grave sometimes if you'd like."

The third member of team 13 nodded while wiping a stray tear away, "I'd like that..." Yes Haku was now the third member of their team, with nowhere else to go, Jiraiya had offered her a place on their team. She had accepted, so Jiraiya had sent a toad to get a headband from Hiruzen.

Speaking of Jiraiya, he walked up to them and said, "There you three are. Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari are waiting for us on the bridge to see us off."

The three nodded, Haku taking one last look at the grave, "Goodbye for now Tou-san. I'll be back to visit sometime soon, I love you."

Once they were across the bridge, Tazuna waved them off, "Don't forget to visit sometime!"

Tsunami nodded, "Don't be strangers, plus I'm sure Inari would like to have you all back here."

Said boy nodded, after Naruto's 'episode' Inari had an attitude adjustment, "Please come back soon!"

Naruto nodded and ruffled his hair, "Count on it Inari."

As the team was walking away, a thought struck tsunami, "Tou-san, what should we name the bridge?"

Tazuna stopped and blinked a bit, "I haven't thought of that..."

Inari then picked up a piece of paper from the ground. He took a look and said, "Hey, jiji! I think Naruto-nii left this..."

Tazuna took the paper and read it, "That kid... Why the hell not!? From this day on, it's the Zabuza Bridge!" **(1)**

* * *

 _A few days later._

Jiraiya and his team had just arrived back in Konoha, "Here we are you three. Now I'm gonna go report to sensei and you three can head to the Namikaze compound. Naruto, I told you where it is on the way here, go relax for a bit, I'm gonna go talk to sensei." With that, he disappeared, leaving his students to head to the compound.

Meanwhile in the Sandaime's office, there was currently a meeting to decide which teams would be taking part in the chunin exams. Hiruzen looked at the assembled teams, it was no surprise that Gai had signed his team up, but to have all three rookie teams? He was a bit concerned, but if their sensei thought they were ready, then it was on them.

"Is that all the teams?" He asked.

Then a knock on the window was heard, everyone turned to see Jiraiya sitting outside it, Hiruzen smirked slightly behind his hand. He then let his student in and waited.

Jiraiya looked his sensei in the eye and said, "Team 13 is ready for the exams."

Hiruzen nodded as all the other assembled ninja gained confused looks, except Kakashi. The Sandaime then said, "You all may leave, but Jiraiya and Kakashi can stay." Once the room was cleared, he continued, "Are you sure they're ready Jiraiya?"

The Toad sage nodded, "Without a doubt."

Kakashi spoke up, "How is the ball of energy doing? I kinda miss him." It was true, he missed watching Naruto, he had been in Naruto's ANBU guard ever since Naruto was a baby.

Jiraiya smiled a bit, "Don't worry Kakashi he's fine. As a matter of fact, he's better than ever."

"That's good to hear. Say, would you mind if I helped out with his training a bit? I was kinda looking forward to having him on my team before he was placed with you."

"Sure, I'll set something up during the month break before the finals."

Hiruzen watched the interaction, "You seem confident that they'll make it to the finals."

Jiraiya chuckled, "Honestly... I'd be surprised if they didn't take it all."

* * *

 _ **Chapter end!**_

Okay, that took a long time to write... I hope you guys enjoyed the new chapter!

1) Naming the bridge after Zabuza... I really like his character, and after killing him off in this story, I wanted to do something for him, and I was having a conundrum with the bridge name, so I just decided to name the bridge after Zabuza.

So, Prophecy collapse is next, then Black and White, lastly, Gemstone.

Please Review!


	3. Chapter 3

Hello everybody!

I know I said I would update Black/White then Gemstone, but I just can't seem to find any inspiration for them... I won't abandon them, but I'm just gonna knock out this chapter and maybe a few others to get the writer's block out. I'm also starting a new semester of college so...

Sorry again guys...

Also, I'm going to do another Century Grand Tournament like in Wild Card. But I'll try to make it different, eniox27 commented on Wild Card that the chunin exams had a Hunger Games feel to them, and that gave me an idea for these exams, so I wanted to thank you for the nice reviews and giving me this idea.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other media that may appear in the story.

* * *

Chapter 3:

Proving Worth.

 _Hokage's office._

"You seen very confident Jiraiya, they must have gotten very strong." Hiruzen said with a small smile.

Jiraiya nodded and said, "Oh yeah, now I need to take these entrance forms to the brats, but before I forget..." At this, he reached into his pocket and took out a small storage scroll, tossing it to Hiruzen, "The Raijin no Ken. Make sure nobody steals it again yeah?"

Hiruzen just chuckled sheepishly.

* * *

 _Namikaze Estate._

Naruto, Yakumo, and Haku walked into the rather large compound and looked around to get a feel for the place. It was very spacious, in a traditional design with a large two story house with a big yard and gardens. Some of their favorite additions were a large dojo separated from the house in a separate building, and a large Sakura tree swaying gently in the breeze. It's petals glowed with a soft pink light, even in the daytime... (If you've seen Nurarihyon no Mago, it's their mansion, if not just look up 'Nurarihyon no Mago Nura mansion', there should be a picture of an areal view of the front.)

"Wow, this place is beautiful... Though I think it needs some cleaning..." Yakumo said as they all met up in the center garden area.

Haku nodded, "All the kitchen appliances work like new, but we need to go buy groceries."

"Alright then." Naruto said, rubbing his hands, "I'll stay here and make some clones to give the place a nice thorough cleaning while you two go out and get the groceries."

Haku and Yakumo agreed, so they left while Naruto made a few dozen clones and got to work.

As the two female members of team 13 walked through the streets of Konoha, they couldn't help but notice the stares and whispers directed at them. People commenting on the Kurama heiress being home after so long, and the few civilians who knew the significance of the sword on Haku's back widening their eyes. After a while they found a supermarket and went in to stock up, Jiraiya had given them a blank check to pay for all the things they'd need to stock the mansion.

They each got a cart and went through grabbing the things they needed, food, spare cleaning supplies, toiletries, and anything else they thought they'd need. About an hour later, as they were getting ready to leave, Yakumo heard a voice that she... didn't want to...

"Yakumo?" Said girl turned to see a wide eyed Kurenai along with who could only be her gennin team.

"Hello Kurenai-san." Yakumo said, almost coldly polite.

Kurenai flinched as her team looked between them, wondering what the awkward air was about, though Hinata did recognize Yakumo from their short meeting. Kiba, always looking to get on the good side of pretty girls, noticed all their shopping bags and said, "You guys look like you've got a lot of bags, I can help you if you want!" Akamaru did what could only be the dog version of a facepalm.

Haku, knowing what was going on from Yakumo's story of her past, also knowing what Kiba was doing, spoke up, "That's alright, we've got it covered." With that, she created some water clones to help carry the bags.

Kurenai, not wanting to end it on a bad note, "Yakumo I-"

Though before she could speak, she was interrupted by Jiraiya dropping down from the rooftops, "There you two are, let's head back, I've got something I think you'll all be excited about..." When he noticed Kurenai and her team, he blanched, "Oh hey Kurenai..."

"Pervert." She dismissed coldly.

Yakumo, wanting to get away fast, said, "Well, I'm sorry to cut this short, but I think we should get going... It was nice seeing you again Hinata-san." With that, she walked away with Haku, leaving Jiraiya to awkwardly slink away.

"I-it was n-nice to see y-you again as w-well." Hinata called out to Yakumo.

When they arrived back to the estate, they saw that Naruto and his clones did a seriously good job in cleaning it, there were still some working here and there, but quite a few took the bags from them and went to put them away in their places.

The original came up to them, no hoodie or gloves, and said, "Well, most of the estate is clean, just a few more spots and we're all done."

The girls nodded and went to help, dragging Jiraiya in as well. A little while later, Team 13 was relaxing with some tea made by Haku. Jiraiya then took out three pieces of paper, "These are entrance forms for the Chunin Exams, but be warned, these are special."

"How so?" Naruto asked.

Jiraiya made sure all of them were paying close attention, "Every 25 years, there is a special, much more grand version of the exams... But this year falls on a 100 year mark, meaning that it's an even bigger spectacle. There are three exams, the first is here in Konoha, the second is in Tetsu no Kuni, and the last is on a sacred island called Sen no Yume. The first two probably won't be all that huge, but the third will be something to see... I won't lie to you, these exams will be harsh, probably one of the biggest challenges you will ever face. Knowing that, will you enter?"

The three looked at each other before they turned to Jiraiya with grins on their faces.

That was all the answer he needed.

* * *

 _The next day._

Naruto, Yakumo, and Haku were walking back to the estate after having lunch at Ichiraku when Naruto stopped, "...Rocks aren't square Konohamaru, nor do they have eye holes."

The girls and Naruto all turned just as the 'rock' exploded in rainbow smoke. Naruto, Yakumo, and Haku stood staring as Konohamaru and his friends, Moegi and Udon, did their intro. After it was over, Naruto introduced his teammates. He had met Konohamaru when he was younger, and after helping Konohamaru actually learn something, Naruto became a big brother figure to him. He also was affectionately referred to as 'boss' by all three kids.

"Wow boss, your teammates are really pretty!" Moegi said while in slight awe of the two kunoichi.

Konohamaru walked up and 'tried' to stealthily ask Naruto, "Hey boss, are they your girlfriends?"

Udon also got closer to hear the answer, Naruto just scratched his hooded head and said, "No, we're just really good friends is all..."

"Oh..." the kids said, before Moegi asked in excitement, "Hey, do you guys wanna play ninja with us!?"

Haku giggled a bit, "I suppose we can, we don't have anything else to do today." Yakumo and Naruto nodded as the three kids grinned and ran off. However, as they turned into an alley, they heard Konohamaru hit something, "Why you little!"

Team 13 turned the same corner and saw a boy in a black suit with a Suna symbol on the head, he was holding Konohamaru up onto the wall, "Don't you know it's rude to run into people kid?"

A blonde girl near him shook her head in exasperation, "Just put the kid down Kankuro, what if _he_ shows up?!"

Kankuro just scoffed, "Calm down Temari, he's nowhere near here, I'm just gonna teach the brat a lesson, _he_ wouldn't even care anyway."

It was at that moment that Naruto appeared holding Kankuro's wrist, "Whoever this mysterious 'he' might be... I sure know I'll be pissed. As will the Sandaime for you hurting his grandson."

Upon hearing exactly who it was he was threatening, Kankuro dropped Konohamaru, who scrambled back behind Team 13. Naruto gave the two Suna ninja a look before turning to the tree near them, "I assume you're the one they're talking about?"

Kankuro and Temari went paper white as a swirl of sand appeared in front of Naruto. When it cleared, it showed a red head with teal ayes and a dead look on his face, "I apologize for my idiot brother's actions."

Kankuro tried to explain, "G-gaara, I was just-"

"Shut up... or I'll kill you." Team 13 was surprised at his attitude, although they didn't show it. Gaara turned back to Naruto and the two of them had a small stare down before Gaara spoke, "What is your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki... Yours?"

"Gaara no Sabaku. I hope we meet in the exams." Gaara said with a psychotic grin.

Naruto gave a small nod, "Same here." He narrowed his eyes as the three ninja walked away.

 _ **"Damn sand rat..."**_ Naruto heard Miko say from the seal.

 _"What do you mean?"_

 ** _"He's the container of my dear little brother Shukaku... Watch out kit, he's dangerous."_**

Naruto gave a small nod as he and the rest of the group left as well.

* * *

 _Konoha Academy, a few days later._

"You guys ready for this?" Naruto asked as he and his team stood outside the academy building.

Yakumo gave a small nod, "I didn't come this far to back out."

Haku gave a small smile as she adjusted the Kubikiribocho on her back, "We'll be fine, now let's get going."

With that, they walked in and upon arriving to the second floor, they found a large gathering of gennin outside a door, Naruto whispered into his teammate's ears, "Kotetsu and Izumo, two chunin. Pretty cool guys, looks like this is a pretest..."

Suddenly, Naruto saw a couple familiar faces, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno... He noticed the glint Sasuke got in his eye when he was about to put someone down, and immediately knew what he was about to do. Naruto quickly got up beside him and placed a hand over Sasuke's mouth , startling Sakura and the pale boy with them, "If they're too stupid to realize that they only went up one flight stairs, then they aren't cut out to be chunin... So shut up and don't give it away simply for the sake of showing off."

With that, Naruto walked off with Yakumo and Haku following, leaving a glaring Sasuke, a contemplative Sai, and a nervous Sakura watching the hooded gennin. As they arrived in the true exam room, they took a place on the wall and took a look around. There weren't many teams around when compared to the number entering, Naruto noticed Kurotsuchi and gave her a small wave, she smiled and waved back.

It wasn't long after that when the rest of Naruto's former classmates walked in and took their places, pretty soon they all congregated around each other and started talking. After a while, a gennin named Kabuto came up and joined in, Naruto picked up a bit about info cards... After a bit, he decided to walk over and say hello to Hinata, he never really got to know her, and after their short meeting he kinda wanted to,

"...I want information on another Konoha gennin. I don't know his name but he-" Sasuke began.

"He's right here." Naruto said, joining the conversation, "He also doesn't like being talked about like he's not here. Hello again Hinata-san."

Hinata blushed a bit at the smile showing from the shadows, it seemed so familiar... "H-hello, i-it's nice t-to see you a-again."

Ino, spotting the ever so small blush, smirked and spoke up, "How do you two know each other?"

Naruto glanced and said, "We ran into each other a couple months ago. Ah, let me introduce you to the new member of our team, this is Haku Momochi."

As the two talked, Kabuto noticed something, "That sword on your back." Haku dropped her smile and turned to Kabuto with a stone expression as he continued, "It belongs to the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist right? How did you get it?"

Haku gained a somber expression, "My father was a member, when he died, he left the sword to me."

Their conversation hadn't gone unnoticed, quite a few Kiri ninja were frothing at the mouth at the sight of the thought to be lost blade, before they got angry that a Konoha ninja had it.

Kabuto also turned his attention to Naruto, "That sword you carry is also interesting. The ancestral blade of the Uzumaki clan head..."

Sakura gained a wide eyed expression, "Uzumaki, like that idiot Naruto?"

Naruto's eye twitched beneath his hood as he heard that, he then had an evil idea... He got close and loomed over Sakura, "I'll thank you if you don't insult my family..." She nodded quickly as he backed off.

"Are the Uzumaki important?" Chouji asked.

Kabuto, ever 'helpful' decided to continue, "The Uzumaki are actually very important to Konoha's history. They were close friends with the Senju clan, and even distantly blood related. As a matter of fact, the Shodaime Hokage's wife was an Uzumaki. Unfortunately Uzushiogakure, their village, was destroyed by Kumo, Kiri, and Iwa because they believed that the Uzumaki were too powerful. Even after that, Konoha ninja still pay tribute to Uzu in our headbands and flak jackets, the swirl symbol."

Sasuke, deciding that he wanted in on the clan lesson, said, "Regardless, they still weren't as great as the Uchiha." Even after getting the crap kicked out of him by Lee, he was still as arrogant as ever.

Kabuto gave a wry smile, "As evidenced by the fact that it took three whole villages to take out Uzu while the Uchiha were killed off by one man." His voice was heavy with sarcasm.

Sasuke grit his teeth, until he heard Naruto's voice, "Names don't even matter in the first place." At everyone's look, he elaborated, "While yes, being a member of a prominent clan is something to be proud of, it in no way automatically makes you strong."

Sasuke smirked, "Maybe not for you. Nobody even remembers your clan, my name is still strong."

"For now." Naruto said, and even though nobody could see it, they could tell that Naruto and Sasuke were staring each other straight in the eye, "Just like my clan, yours has been destroyed, once people forget the massacre, it will fade into obscurity. That's just the nature of things, you may bring it back into the limelight later on, but everything ends... I know that, but I also know that it's the exact reason that I need to use my name proudly." Then he whispered to himself, "Both of them..." He had ironically learned that sentiment from the journal of his mother, she had heard it from her own father just before he sent her away to Konoha to escape Uzu's destruction.

Everyone who heard him was stunned, members of famous clans never thought that way!

"By the way, what's your name?" Ino asked.

Naruto gave a small smirk, "All in due time Ino-san..."

Before anyone could comment further, a large group of ninja appeared at the front of the room, with a large scarred man leading them, "Alright maggots, everyone find your seat!"

Naruto and his team left the stunned rookies and a seething Sasuke to start the test. Naruto found his seat near the back of the room and discovered that he was sitting next to Hinata, he looked around to see Haku down near the front and Yakumo in between the two of them.

As the proctor explained the test, alarm bells immediately went off in Naruto's head. He was much smarter than ha was before, so he immediately figured out the secret meaning, _"Why would he give us multiple chances when we cheat? Unless... We're supposed to... It's a test on how we gather information!"_ He took a look at Yakumo and Haku to see that they understood as well. Naruto quickly thought up a plan. To his knowledge Haku didn't have anything that would let her cheat without being caught, and Yakumo couldn't take the chance that someone would notice her placing a genjutsu...

Naruto slowly brought his hands down beneath the table into a cross formation, _**"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, Henge."**_ A small puff of smoke appeared in Naruto's hand, when he opened it, three gnats flew out... One went for the answer sheet on the desk behind the proctor, it landed on the wall and quickly memorized the answers before flying up to a light and dispelling itself.

Naruto felt the rush of information and quickly wrote down the answers, he also turned and watched as his other two disguised clones flew toward his teammates.

Yakumo was annoyed as the gnat kept landing on her paper, she was trying to figure out how to cheat damn it! It was then that she payed closer attention and saw that it was tracing words onto her sheet... She followed it and saw that it was spelling out the answers!

When she was done writing, the gnat disappeared into a puff of smoke, her eyes widened as she realized that it was one of Naruto's transformed clones. She discreetly looked down to Haku to see the dark haired Hyoton user following her gnat as well. She silently thanked Naruto for the help.

Speaking of the red streaked blonde, he was unknowingly the subject of quite a few genin's attention...

Sasuke was glaring at the hooded boy, _"How dare he! Insinuating that the Uchiha will become extinct someday. After I kill Itachi, I'll show him... His clan might fade away, but mine won't!"_

Sakura was also thinking about him, _"Who is he? He seems so familiar but so strange to me! He kinda scared me for a second... But I guess I kinda deserved it... After being away for so long, I realized how much of a bitch I was to Naruto... I should find him and apologize sometime..."_

Sai was analyzing him with a harsh eye, _"Danzo-sama never informed me of him... Who is he?"_

Ino, the resident gossip queen, was also trying to analyze the new player in the game, _"He's so different from Sasuke-kun, yet the same in many ways... They're both the last known members of their clans, they're both powerful, obviously... Yet his attitude is nearly the opposite of Sasuke's, man, maybe if he was in my class I'd be after him! Wait, what? I wouldn't date him just because he was popular, even though that's exactly... the reason I went after... Sasuke... Oh good god how shallow am I!"_

Shikamaru peeked out at him and sighed, _"Naruto, you are way too troublesome..."_

Once the tenth question was about to be revealed, Naruto sat and watched as the weaker or more scared teams opted out of the exams, once it was done, Ibiki gave them all a stare down, "To everyone remaining... You all pass."

At the enormous exclamations from other gennin, Ibiki quieted them all down and explained the true reason for the test, after that, they were all dismissed. As the teams left the exam room, they all found the Sensei waiting for them, everyone was surprised to see Jiraiya waiting there, and everyone who was cautious of team 13 were instantly on edge at seeing them go straight up to the Sannin.

As they left for the compound, Jiraiya explained the second portion of the exams, "Tomorrow we're heading off for Tetsu no Kuni. Every team will leave from the main gate in a large convoy. I hope I don't have to say that there is no fighting allowed on the way."

Yakumo thought for a second, "Can you tell us what the second and third portions will entail?"

Jiraiya then shook his head, "Nope, it's kept hidden to everyone except the Kage so we can't prepare our students in advance."

They all nodded and headed to their rooms in the compound upon arrival, they needed to pack...

* * *

 _The next day - Afternoon._

Naruto sighed as he walked along a cart loaded up with the Konoha ninja's luggage. They had been on the road for hours, "Ero-sensei, how much longer until we get to Tetsu no Kuni?"

Jiraiya's eye twitched, "Stop calling me that! As to your question, we should arrive in a few hours. We'll get to the capitol late, so it'll be getting into the village, then straight to the hotel." Naruto nodded as he turned to where all the girls were talking, Ino had dragged Haku and Yakumo into a girl talking session with Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, and herself.

 _"Kill me now..." "Hush, it's not that bad!" _Yakumo said, quieting her Ido, they had started to come to an agreement, but Yakumo had made a compromise with Ido in the form of a technique... What that technique was, was a secret to everyone outside her team.

There were varying faces among the group of girls, Ino and Sakura were chatting animatedly, Hinata was trying to slip away, Tenten was gushing over the Kubikiribocho, Haku was trying to keep the weapon otaku away from the sword, and Yakumo was walking with a blank face.

 _" It's gonna be a long trip..."_ Ido complained from inside Yakumo's head.

* * *

 _Three Wolves Mountains - night._

"Their capitol is in these mountains?" Haku asked as she walked through the snow, ignoring Yakumo's shivering.

Jiraiya nodded, "Yep, their capitol has no real name, but it's been on these mountains since their founding. You guys should be watchful, it's very rare that this many shinobi are allowed into Tetsu no Kuni."

Yakumo decided to speak up, "How are you not freezing Haku!?"

Haku looked down at her usual outfit and said simply, "I'm a Hyoton user."

Naruto chuckled and said, "Just channel a bit of fire chakra Yakumo..."

The genjutsu user nodded and did just that, "Oh wow, that actually does help..."

Naruto shook his head, he was just not bothered, he thought it was his healing factor but he wasn't sure.

A few minutes later, the group arrived at the entrance gates, after getting in, they headed to their hotel. As they walked, Naruto looked around the village and got lost in thought. From the rumors of Tetsu no Kuni being highly militaristic, the air was surprisingly lax... Sure there were samurai all around prepared to leap into action, but there were also families walking around enjoying the festivities, seemingly not even bothered by the cold. They arrived at their hotel and headed up to their room, after taking their turns in the bathroom and getting into bed, they decided to just head straight to sleep.

Jiraiya poked his head into their room, "Oh good you're all ready to sleep, the next test is starting tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock sharp."

* * *

 _The next day._

Naruto was a bit nervous as he sat in a room with the rest of the Konoha gennin. They had a number of furniture around, like a few couches, a few chairs, and a large TV on the wall, showing an arena. It was a simple one, a stone floor with a raised wall on all sides, with doors on either side for the competitors to enter, complete with viewing areas for the citizens of Tetsu no Kuni. Two people would be randomly chosen to head out and fight, the winner would move on to the third and final round. The pressure was on as these matched were televised all throughout the nations...

They all watched as competitors came up and fought an announcer calling their names over the TV, Shikamaru vs an Oto jounin, Temari vs Tenten, they saw many ninja that they didn't know, but some were definitely to be watched, like a blonde from Kumo, Sai, who was definitely hiding something, and Naruto could have sworn that the redhead from Kusa was an Uzumaki.

It was a few matches later that the door to their room opened and a Samurai called, "Haku Momochi?" Haku nodded and got up to follow him, getting smiles from her teammates. When she reached the arena, she saw that her opponent was a random Kiri-ninja, she waited as they were announced, she didn't even pay attention to his name as the announcer called from his special box.

She saw that he was eyeing the sword on her back and sighed, "Are you going to keep staring or are you actually going to fight?"

He snapped out of his funk and glared at her, "Shut up! I wanna know how a Konoha ninja has one of our swords!"

Haku narrowed her eyes and said, "If you must know... Zabuza was my adopted Tou-san. He died a few weeks ago and left me the sword, I am originally from Kiri, but I decided to go to Konoha because I wanted to be with my friends. Now... I think I'll end this quickly."

Haku then put her hands into a sign team 13 knew well, one hand in front of her chest, and one high in the air, **"Kirigakure no Jutsu."** A thick mist descended onto the arena, with the audience, even not knowing what Haku was doing, knew full well what Zabuza was so well known for...

The Kiri ninja, despite underestimating Haku, was a bit scared... He nearly pissed himself when he heard Haku's soft, kind voice echoing through the mist, "Eight points to strike; larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, brain, kidneys, and the heart. Which one..."

The Kiri ninja, now knowing exactly how much shit he was in, tried backing up, until he stopped and pulled out a kunai. But everyone watched as Haku appeared behind him twirling the Kubikiribocho over her head. She then swung it, slamming the flat end into his side, throwing him into a wall and knocking him out, no doubt breaking a few ribs and maybe puncturing a lung.

* * *

"I like her!" Mei Terumi said from the Kage box.

Onoki, the Tsuchikage gave her a raised eyebrow, "You're not upset about her having one of the seven ninja swordsman blades?"

The bubbly Kage shook her head, "Oh no, it's always been up to the swordsman to decide who gets their sword. This wouldn't be the first time a sword didn't belong to a Kiri ninja, plus Zabuza would never give the girl her sword if he really didn't want her to have it."

* * *

When Haku walked back into their team room, she received a hug from Yakumo and Naruto, with Jiraiya giving her an approving nod and a smile. As they sat back down to watch the matches, there were a few more matches with people they knew. Like Shino and Chouji both facing Oto nin, Kurotsuchi took out a rather weak Ame nin, Kankuro against a stretchy Konoha nin, and the next match of their team, a Samurai opened the door, "Yakumo Kurama?"

Yakumo took a steadying breath and felt a hand on her shoulder, "Go get 'em Yakumo-chan." Naruto said, his eyes showing nothing but confidence for his teammate.

She nodded and shared a smile with Haku, before walking out to face... Kiba. As she stared down the team of human and dog, Kiba grinned at his chance to show off, "Hey there Yakumo-san! Fancy meeting you here!"

Yakumo's eye twitched, "Please don't try to be cute Kiba-san. I came here to advance as a ninja, not to be hit on by you." She then pulled out a kunai, waiting for the fight to start.

Kiba's eye twitched, "Fine, if that's what you want... Let's get her Akamaru!" Said dog just sighed and gave Yakumo a look of apology.

"Yakumo Kurama vs. Kiba Inuzuka, Hajime!" The announcer said from his box.

Kiba dropped down onto all fours, "Time to start off strong, **Jujin Bunshin!** "

Yakumo watched as a puff of smoke concealed the duo, until they both flew out and tried to slash at her with their nails. She dodged the two as they jumped around her, making sure to stop her from getting to her scroll. It wasn't particularly hard to dodge them, just annoying, as she dodged she heard a voice, _"Use the move!"_ _"Are you stupid!? What possible reason would I have to do that?" "What possible reason would you have not to?" __"I... I have nothing to say to that... Fine!"_

Yakumo jumped through a hole in the assault and went through a few handsigns, including the shadow clone sign and ending on a sign Ino used for her Shintenshin, she placed it on her forhead and pushed outward, " **Kagami Hansha Bunshin!** "

A large cloud of smoke appeared over Yakumo, hiding her from everyone's view. When it cleared, Yakumo was... nosebleed inducing. Her hairclip was gone, leaving her bangs hanging over her face as she ran her hands through her hair, throwing it out over her shoulders. As everyone looked closer, they noticed that she hadn't just lost her hairclip... Her shorts were gone, as were her sandals and headband, she really wasn't wearing anything except her purple yukata and white underwear.

"Ah... It feels so good to stretch my legs out!" With that, she stretched, not caring who saw the flashes of her underwear, "Well, shall we get down to business doggy boy?"

Kiba stood staring at the new 'sexy' Yakumo, when a hand came out of the smoke and smacked her in the back of the head. It was revealed to be the real Yakumo, still fully dressed and a little pissed, "Would you stop acting like a flasher and get up!?"

The sexy Yakumo sighed and stood, "You're no fun Yaku-tan..."

Said girl shook her head, "Let's just get this over with Ido."

* * *

 _Konoha viewing area._

Kurenai was stunned at what Yakumo called her clone, "That's her Ido!? Why the fuck is it free!?" She turned to Jiraiya with a glare.

The toad Sannin just stared her down, "Don't look at me, she wanted to do it. I just helped her make the technique. It's a combination of the Shintenshin no jutsu, with permission from Inoichi of course, and the Kage Bunshin."

The Konoha gennin were also a bit cautious, after Asuma explained why Ido was a problem. Naruto and Haku just smiled, they knew that Yakumo knew what she was doing...

* * *

"Fine..." Ido said with a vicious smirk, before lunging forward, putting an unaware Akamaru into a headlock. Kiba, startled by the speed, was unaware as Yakumo quickly took her scroll and drew down a picture, Kiba suddenly found himself fallen prey to one of Yakumo's most useful genjutsu. He fell down, paralyzed as Ido held Akamaru by the throat with her legs, examining her nails, "I take it back... That was boring."

As Yakumo was announced the winner, Ido let Akamaru go, and as he turned back to a dog, she gave him a little kiss on the head, "Good puppy..." Before fading into smoke, returning to Yakumo's head as she walked back to the viewing room. She avoided people's gazes as she sat down on a couch and tried to calm her complaining Ido. Most of the next matches were between ninja that weren't that interesting at all... Sakura and Ino's match was boring as all hell, but at least they both made resolutions to pull themselves together, the match between Gaara and Lee was incredibly intense... Naruto made a mental note to pay Gaara back for nearly killing Lee.

However, it was the match between Hinata and Neji that made his blood boil... As he was watching the match go on, he got up and stormed over to the door, the samurai standing guard not even bothering to stop him.

Sasuke followed, however not out of any concern for Hinata, but because he had something else to do...

As Neji moved in for the final low to Hinata, he suddenly found his wrist gripped by someone who just blurred in front of him, "Try it again and I will break you." Hinata managed to look up and see Naruto standing in front of her... Her eyes widened as she saw him, one second Neji was ready to kill her, the next, her mysterious friend was there protecting her!

Neji wrenched his hand out of Naruto's grip and said, "You shouldn't interfere if you value your safety..."

Naruto just glared at him, then Neji found a kunai a centimeter away from his eye, "You should leave Hinata be before I decide to take those eyes you're so proud of..."

Neji grit his teeth before smirking and walking off, Naruto then helped Hinata stand and watched as she returned to the viewing room. He then pulled his gloves tight and turned, seeing Sasuke on the other end of the field... They were the only two who hadn't fought yet...

* * *

 _Kage box._

Hiruzen watched the boys with a critical eye, this would be the ultimate test to Naruto... All throughout the academy, Sasuke was the one Naruto wanted to surpass, but he always fell short. Now Naruto would get a chance to see exactly how far he'd come...

"Hokage-dono..." Ay, the Raikage said while examining Naruto, "Are those Hiraishin kunai on the hooded kid's belt?"

"Well I'll be damned..." Rasa, the Kazekage said with widened eyes.

Onoki's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he noticed them, "I knew it! I knew that there was no way the Yondaime didn't have a kid!"

Mei blinked a bit and said, "Well, he's certainly an interesting boy, risking a Jyuken strike to protect a girl? It's like a romantic story... Yet I can't even find a boyfriend... Fufufufufu..." The other Kage tried to shuffle away as she gave off a dark and terrifying aura.

Meanwhile, in the announcer's box, he took a look at the two competitors and said, "The final match! Sasuke Uchiha vs. Naruto Uzumaki, Hajime!"

* * *

 _Konoha Group Room._

"WHAT!?" Were the words of 90% of the Konoha group, Ino was trying to process what she'd just heard, Sakura was stunned and standing like a statue, Chouji dropped his chips, Shino and Shikamaru just nodded and kept watching, Tenten also didn't act surprised, Neji was dumbfounded, Kiba thought he heard wrong, Sai's jaw actually dropped, and Hinata looked dead on her feet.

"That's Naruto!? Holy fuck!" Ino yelled, summing up most of their thoughts.

Kiba finally realized what was happening, "How the hell is he here!? I thought he failed!"

Jiraiya chuckled, drawing everyone's attention, "It was revealed that Naruto's education was sabotaged. After I started training him, he improved by leaps and bounds. Naruto would punch me for saying this, since he hates this word, but he's a prodigy for the ages..."

Everyone thought on those words and turned back to the screen, if what Jiraiya said was true... then Sasuke had a hell of a fight on his hands.

In other news, as Naruto took his hood off Hinata blushed and nearly fainted while Ino and Sakura also felt a little heat.

* * *

 _Arena._

Sasuke stood processing what he'd just heard while Naruto sighed and took his hood off. When Sasuke finally got himself back together, he smirked, "This'll be easier than I first thought. After all, you were always behind me dobe..."

Naruto knew what Sasuke was trying to do and chuckled, "I'm not the same as before Sasuke, baiting me won't work."

The Uchiha grit his teeth as they both stood there, one thing Naruto knew about Sasuke...

"Fine! If you won't come to me..." He was impatient.

Naruto watched as Sasuke rushed forward, intent on ending it quick. Once Sasuke was in range, Naruto decided that it was high time someone knocked the smug smile off of Sasuke's face... Naruto deflected Sasuke's punch, knocking it off to the side, he then brought a foot up and slammed it into Sasuke's chest, sending him sprawling back. The two then engaged in a Taijutsu battle, they both seemed to be on equal ground, until Naruto gave Sasuke a palm strike to his already bruised chest.

As Sasuke stood, Naruto couldn't resist prodding him a bit, "You keep expecting me to be exactly like I was in the academy. You refuse to accept that I'm stronger and better than before. I also have another advantage over you, since the academy, you've stayed the same, trained the same, and fought the same. Meanwhile I've changed how I fight and act, that orange loving prankster is still a part of me, but I've grown..."

Sasuke got up and grit his teeth, then he went through a few handsigns and took a deep breath, **"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"**

 _"If I know Sasuke..."_ Naruto thought as he watched the huge fireball approach. He then ran in the opposite direction, when he got to the wall, he ran up and flipped over the fireball, as he did, he looked down and saw Sasuke running close behind it, " _There you are..."_ He quickly took out a scroll.

Sasuke watched as the fireball exploded, with the dobe nowhere in sight. Where the hell was he!? He felt a shadow cross his body and looked up just in time to see Naruto activating a scroll, making tri-pronged kunai rain down onto the field. He dodged them all and watched as Naruto landed on the field and stood up with a blank look on his face, "It's over Sasuke."

The last loyal Uchiha just gave a superior smirk, "You actually expect me to believe that you've learned the Yondaime's jutsu?"

Naruto shook his head with a sigh, "You don't have to believe it, I was just trying to warn you." At this, there was a flash of yellow light...

Sasuke's eyes shot wide open as he saw Naruto disappear in the flash, he turned and saw the blonde standing on the complete opposite end of the arena!

If he had looked more clearly, he would have seen a kunai exactly where Naruto was previously standing... Naruto gave Sasuke a small smile and disappeared in a yellow flash again, Sasuke turned and frantically searched the arena for his opponent, but each time he located him, there was another flash and he was gone!

Just as Sasuke was actually getting worried, Naruto appeared in front of him, facing over Sasuke's shoulder with a hand on the opposite one, Sasuke's voice was heavy with anger and slight fear, "How... How did you get so strong!?"

Naruto, despite finally beating his rival, was eerily calm, he took a moment before he said, "I let people help me. Maybe you should do the same before you wind up killing yourself." With that, Naruto channeled Raiton chakra into his hand and placed it on a nerve on Sasuke's neck, rendering him unconscious.

As he walked away, he held up a small firecracker like object between his thumb and forefinger, "Colored miniature flash-bangs." All the Hiraishin kunai around the arena then transformed into Naruto clones, "One of these and a little transformation and it's rather easy to pull of an illusion of using the Hiraishin."

* * *

 _Viewing area._

As Naruto walked in and sat down, he ignored everyone's staring, yet took slight pleasure in seeing the stunned looks on his former classmate's faces. Everyone was silent as they waited to head back to the hotel, Naruto gave a small sigh and turned to his teammates, "Wanna go get something to eat?" After they both nodded, he thought of something and turned back to the room's other occupants, "Anyone else wanna go?"

The rookies blinked a bit before Tenten shrugged and walked over, Ino, for whatever reason, grabbed Sakura and Hinata before following.

* * *

 _Barbecue Restaurant._

After walking for a bit, the group had found a nice place to eat and got sat down. As they ate, Naruto didn't talk much with Sakura and Ino, until Sakura spoke up, "Naruto, I just wanted to say... I'm sorry... I realized how horrible I was to you and I... I want to apologize..."

Ino also gained a nervous expression, "I'm sorry too... I acted like a total bitch when we were in school..."

Naruto gave them a hard look, he couldn't sense any ill intentions from them so he gave them a small smile, "Apology accepted." Their heads snapped up, at their confused faces, Naruto's smile widened, "It's pointless to hold grudges, besides, We were kids."

They both smiled and nodded, until Ino spoke again, "There's something else we wanted to ask you... Can you help us get stronger!?" This time, Naruto was the confused one, "We realized how weak we are and we wanted to fix it... But we don't know where to start, so we thought we'd ask you..."

He nodded and said, "Sure, when we get back to the village I'll show you to the house so you can start... Say, Hinata, do you wanna come too? I'm not saying you're weak, it's just that training's always more fun with friends."

Hinata blushed and squealed in her head, _"Yes! Oh please Kami-sama YES!"_ "T-that sounds n-nice, I w-would love t-to."

After that, they all just enjoyed their time together, before Naruto started thinking about everyone there, when he got to Hinata, he stopped, _"For a weird girl she's really nice... Though why is she blushing all the time? It only ever happens when she looks at me though.. Wait... SHE HAS A CRUSH ON ME! HOW THE FUCK HAVE I NOT NOTICED THAT!?"_

* * *

 _With the Beautiful Blue Beast!_

As Maito Gai walked down the street toward the hospital, he marveled at the youth Tetsu no Kuni seemed to have! Before he went ramrod straight , his eyes glazed over before he relaxed and looked down at himself, speaking in a soft and quiet voice, "This spandex... How horrible... I must acquire regulation attire. I must also deal with this hair, these eyebrows are horrid abominations."

After that, his eyes widened as he screamed, "MY YOUTH IS FAILING, I MUST FIND LEE, HE SHALL HELP ME REACQUIRE MY TRUE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!" With that, he sped off in his usual fashion.

* * *

 _Realm of Kami._

Kami, a beautiful black haired woman with a white dress and golden wings, was running around a room filled with file cabinets yelling at two other people, "WE HAVE TO FIX EVERYTHING! THE VERY UNIVERSE IS AT STAKE!"

A white haired demonic looking man trying to Spackle walls turned to her, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO MAKE HIM TOO SMART! THIS IS WHY I SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN CHARGE!"

Kami glared at him while chacking more files, "SHUT IT SHINIGAMI!"

Yami, sliver haired woman as beautiful as Kami, wearing a skimpy black kimono typed away at a computer, ignoring her siblings' screaming, "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND START WORKING!" Her eyes then widened, "SHINO IS THINKING OF BECOMING A MALE STRIPPER! FOR THE LOVE OF US HURRY UP!"

* * *

 _A few hours of this later..._

The three gods were lying in a pile, looking damn near dead. Kami pulled herself up, "We did it... we managed to save the space-time continuum... yay..."

Shinigami flipped his sister off, "I just wanna reiterate that this was your plan..."

Yami stood up and walked over her siblings, "Hate you both... I'm gonna go die now..."

What happened? Naruto noticed Hinata's crush is what happened.

* * *

 _ **Chapter end!**_

Alright, I think that helped my block, so now I'm gonna start working on Black/White.

Yes, Sakura is in the harem. I don't care if you don't like her, I'm not changing it.

What's the final portion of the exams gonna be like? You'll just have to wait and see. Also did you guys like the scenes I put at the end?


End file.
